A051252 - Prime Circles - Summary and Update

[Henry Gould]

Jud McCranie's remark reminded me that the late Prof. E. J. McShane
(Univ. of Virginia)
once enumerated for us students 16 types of "obviousness", one of which
was the one
that Jud just told about. I maintain a "Mathematician's Laugh Book" in
which I enter all
such stories as contributions to mathematical humor. A friend of mine
was a taking a class
years ago from Norbert Wiener, who had told his class there were two
ways to solve a
certain problem. When the class came back and said they couldn't figure
it out, Wiener
paused and thought a while and then announced: "Yes, it works by Method
One." Then
he plunged deep in thought again and after a whole announced
triumphantly: "Yes, it
works by Method Two." He then continued on with his lecture on the
Fourier integral.

I have a sequence problem I asked Paul Erdos about and he gave me a
hint. The next year
when he visited us here at West Virginia again, I asked him about it and
he said "I gave you
a hint." I pondered it another two years and  when he visited us the
third time he reminded
me had given me a hint. So the joint paper hangs in limbo until I
decipher Uncle Paul's
hint.

Henry W. Gould


Jud McCranie wrote:

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