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74 7ワエテッ析そそやっとも幸生 っロ
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Many eople around the worid thoughNt Saturday July 7th。 2007 might be the
スタ なで"5、 。。 ロてリオ
day of the century. Thatis because in the Gregorian calendar, it was the
ucks
seventh day of the seventh month of the seventh year。 "This might explain why about
three times as many weddings were reported that day in the U.S. as for a typical
Saturday in July。 On the other hand, the 18th day of July in 2007 fell on a Friday 一a
coincidence many believe brings bad 1uck. Why are these numbers so meaningful to
some people?
Tan Stewart is a British mathematician and author at the University of
Warwick who also publishes an Tnternet web 1og on popular mathematics. He recently
wrote an article on number symbotism for the Encyclopedia Britannica online
"There is a cultural fascination with numbers, Stewart says。 and people tend to
He notes that the number 13 is unlucky for many
give them al sorts of significance.
Western cultures, but 4 is unlucky for the Chinese, because the Chinese word for four
and the Chinese word for death sound very similar. Thus, the numbers themselves
dont seem to have any particular features
Surprisingly the number 7 is consistently considered lucky。 even for very
Eyeryone knows that in Western casinos, a person wins atthe slot
dferent cultures.
mmachines 下 they get friple sevens, and seven is the most probable outcome of rolling
two dice. But even the ancient Greeks thought seven was a special nunnber.
Stewart explains that the Pythagoreans in ancient Greece thought the number
3 represented the spiritual world. They associated the number 4 with the four
essential elements in the physical world: fire, earth, ar and water. Therefore.7 一
which is 4 plus 3一 was particularly important, he says, because it embodied both the
piritua】 world and the material world.
