A Million Used to be Big
It doesn't seem that long ago that a million was a very big number.
Millionaires were popular people, we called prime real estate areas “millionaire's row” and there was a well-loved movie starring Marilyn Monroe and Lauren Bacall called “How to Marry a Millionaire.”
These days millionaires are a dime a dozen, so to speak. Lots of homes are worth $1 million or more and billionaires probably hold more appeal for women set on landing a well-heeled hubby.
So if billions are the new millions, and trillions are the new billions, what's next?
What Comes After a Trillion?
The next big number after a trillion is a quadrillion (1,000,000,000,000,000,000 or 1015), then a quintillion, sextillion, septillion, octillion, nonillion and decillion.
If that's not big enough for you, the next biggest number is an undecillion, followed by a duodecillion, tredecillion, quattuordecillion, quindecillion, sexdecillion, septendecillion, octodecillion, novemdecillion, and finally a googol (10100).
Who knows, maybe one day there'll be a movie called "How to Marry a Sextillionaire."
Googol? That Sounds Like Google
Yes it does. That's because Google's founders, Sergey Brin and Larry Page, named their company after a very large number that they presumably liked the sound of - googol. They just changed the spelling a little (oh, and came up with some algorithms which redefined the world of search).
Why One Billion Isn't Always the Same as Another
Crazy as it may sound, a billion is a different number in the US than in the UK.
In the US, a billion is 1,000 x million, or 1,000,000,000.
But in the UK, a billion has historically been 1 million x million, or 1,000,000,000,000.
However, most people around the world, including in the UK and its former colonies, have adopted the US billion. The UK billion is now falling out of use.
Zero - The New Kid on the Block
Zero didn't exist until a few centuries BC.
Even when zero was “discovered” it took quite a while before it came to be accepted.
One reason people had a problem with zero was that it represented the void - a great nothingness from which the world evolved and into which it might one day disappear again - which was a frightening idea.
Another reason is that zero doesn't behave like other numbers so it was considered dubious. Take a number and add it to itself and it grows - one plus one is two, two plus two is four. But zero plus zero is zero.
Now zero is accepted and part of our lives. Mind you, we don't say, “I have zero potatoes left.” We say, “I have no potatoes left.” Any thoughts on why?
What Does 100,000 Look Like?
Ever have trouble picturing numbers, say, 1,000 people, 50 yards, 100,000 words?
Take a tip from John Allen Paulos, author of Innumeracy - Mathematical Illiteracy and its Consequences. When he wants to picture 1,000 people, he says, he thinks of a section of Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia which he knows contains 1,008 seats.
He adds that a wall of a garage near his house contains almost 10,000 narrow bricks, and that a good-sized novel contains 100,000 words.
The key to remembering, says Paulos, is to make it personal. Think of something you are familiar with and know the size of, and use that as a frame of reference.
