1,002,000,000,000/Historical Note
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Historical Note on $1 \, 002 \, 000 \, 000 \, 000$
According to Plutarch, $1 \, 002 \, 000 \, 000 \, 000$ was the number of possible syllables that Xenocrates of Chalcedon calculated as the number of syllables that could be made from the letters of the Greek alphabet.
If this is true, then it forms the first attempt on record at solving a significant problem of combinatorics.
Sources
- 1986: David Wells: Curious and Interesting Numbers ... (previous) ... (next): $1,002,000,000,000$
- 1997: David Wells: Curious and Interesting Numbers (2nd ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): $1,002,000,000,000$