Big Numbers

[Almo]

http://www.scottaaronson.com/writings/bignumbers.html

This is a long article, but it is well-written, and very interesting. I thought it was a good one to post here because of this line:

If people fear big numbers, is it any wonder that they fear science as well and turn for solace to the comforting smallness of mysticism?

[Freethinker]

http://www.scottaaronson.com/writings/bignumbers.html

This is a long article, but it is well-written, and very interesting. I thought it was a good one to post here because of this line:

Interesting read.

[Almo]

Nice to hear someone read it. :)

[BenK]

I first thought of this XKCD blag (http://blag.xkcd.com/2007/03/14/large-numbers/) but the linked article was much easier to understand. :)

[MosheJW]

I really enjoyed it!
Great article :)

[GreedyAlgorithm]

Scott Aaronson does a blog, also: Shtetl-Optimized (http://www.scottaaronson.com/blog/). There are a number of other gems here, like a very accessible explanation of Shor's algorithm for finding the prime factors of huge numbers with quantum computers: Shor, I'll do it (http://scottaaronson.com/blog/?p=208).