As we enter 2011, here’s something for number aficionados and those who enjoy a bit of mathematics: the number 2011 is a prime number. What’s a prime number? A number that can’t be factored into a product of integers other than itself and 1. (The number 9 isn’t prime because it can be written as the product 3×3; but the number 7 is.)
Numbers don’t speak to everyone, but for those who enjoy playing with numbers, prime numbers can be fun. They are all odd numbers; they don’t follow a pattern among the other numbers, so they’re unpredictable and even a bit mysterious; they are the anomalies among numbers. There isn’t a largest prime number, but there are fewer primes among large numbers, so the really large prime numbers are rare and beautiful. There are even prizes that can be won for finding really large prime numbers. And, of course they can be used for secret codes in cryptography!
When were the other prime number years in American history? The year after the American revolution, 1777, was the first after our nation was founded, and there were several others in the immediate aftermath of the American revolution including 1783, and then 1787. But since the year 2000, there haven’t been so many; so far, only 2003, and 2011.
So enjoy the primality of the New Year!
— Caroline Herzenberg, Chicago
