A magic number
"If the number 20 were a person, she would be the diplomatic and capable child of the compassionate number 2 and the all-inclusive number 0." The Secret of the Tarot.com
A new decade - the twenties - a new year 2020. Which is special for me because I was born on the 20th (of June). And did you know that the number 20 is the third magic number in Physics? Yes magic. There are only seven magic numbers - 2, 8, 20, 28, 50, 82, and 126. (isn't seven a lucky number, which I know is not quite the same as magic but still...?)
And what is a magic number in Physics - just in case you wanted to know. Well it's:
"a number of nucleons (either protons or neutrons, separately) such that they are arranged into complete shells within the atomic nucleus."
I don't quite know what that means, but I think these numbers are also associated in some way with various elements - 20 is associated with calcium - chalk - the stuff that makes your bones strong. And why were they called magic numbers - well (again I don't quite understand):
"According to Steven A. Moszkowski (a student of Maria Goeppert-Mayer), the term "magic number" was coined by Eugene Wigner: "Wigner too believed in the liquid drop model, but he recognized, from the work of Maria Mayer, the very strong evidence for the closed shells. It seemed a little like magic to him, and that is how the words 'Magic Numbers' were coined."
But it is sort of nice to know that the number 20 could be considered to be 'magic'.
2020 as a number looks sort of magic doesn't it? I did a post a long time ago on a wonderful little book called the The Housekeeper and the Professor, which was sort of all about the wonder of numbers. And when this somehow significant number came up today I thought I would ramble around it. Especially as there is the added coincidence of my birthday being on the 20th. The book was sort of all about connections - the personal ones in the book of course, and the connections to be found in numbers.
The numerology people, of course, are also into magic. In the sense that it's all nonsense, but as well as that statement at the top of the page, here is another one:
"The universal number 20 is a number representing duality, a number belonging to both God and the Devil."
And when I look at my astrological sign of the zodiac and all that other nonsense I find that I am a Gemini - the twins - who are said to have a somewhat split personality. So there's another connection/coincidence, even if it is all nonsense.
Here is Wikipedia's mathematical list for the number 20:
"20 is a tetrahedral number as 1, 4, 10, 20.[3]
20 is the basis for vigesimal number systems.
20 is the third composite number to be the product of a squared prime and a prime, and also the second member of the (22)q family in this form.
20 is the smallest primitive abundant number.
An icosahedron has 20 faces. A dodecahedron has 20 vertices.
20 can be written as the sum of three Fibonacci numbers uniquely, i.e. 20 = 13 + 5 + 2.
The product of the number of divisors and the number of proper divisors of 20 is exactly 20.
20 is the number of moves (quarter or half turns) required to optimally solve a Rubik's Cube in the worst case"
So many words I just don't understand there and the rest of it means more or less nothing to me. But isn't it wonderful - or something - that people throughout the centuries have played such obtuse games with numbers?
So 2020. What will it bring? Because of the number itself, the coincidence of my birthdate, the symmetry of it all somehow, I feel that 2020 might be some kind of turning point, both on a personal and global level. We have just about reached crunch point on global warming and climate change it seems. Politicians have reached a nadir so you would hope that the only way is up from here on in.
Crunch time for food too. Will obesity continue its upward trajectory or will we all get sucked in by the opposite extremes of veganism, kept diets and the like? Whatever way we go it is certain that the times they are a'changing. Even more than usual.
Not much about food here I know but I just felt that something should be said about the magic number of 2020. Well technically 2020 is not a magic number - 20 is, but you would think a double dose of magic would all be to the good. Although magic, of course, can be black as well.
So let's try and read some optimism into this statement by the loony numerologists:
"The number 20 denotes one who has infinite potential when it comes to relationships or diplomacy. This number helps in bringing projects to completion (usually group projects that are started by someone else), attending to all the details."
We certainly need diplomacy - and a group approach to the troubles of the world.
