h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

While I do appreciate the discussion of the google search engine (I guess). I expect H2G2 to do a bit better than that when discussing an issue (or word) especially as an official edited entry.

Isn't this supposed to become the most useful and interesting database of knowledge in the known universe? So where is the mention of the true meanings of this word google?

First and foremost, one has to mention the simple first definition of google as the number represented by 1 followed by 100 zeros. The veracity of the story wherein some mathematician wrote it out on the black board and asked some child what number they thought it was (the answer being "Google" of course) is questionable, but can not be left out in any discussion of the word.

Of a more personal interest, it seems to me that some time in the 1970's or early 1980's there was also a condiment called google which was primarily a swirled mixture of chocolate and peanut butter. There may have been other varieties (cinnamon etc) and it may no longer exist, but it seemed a damn good idea at the time.

In any case, I am sorely disappointed to see these ( if not other) definitions left out of the google discussion...



Of a more personal interest, it seems to me that some time in the 1970's or early 1980's there was also a condiment called google which was primarily a swirled mixture of chocolate and peanut butter. There may have been other vareties (cinnimon etc) and it may no longer exist, but it seemed a damn good idea at the time.

In any case, I am sorely dissapointed to see these ( if not other) deffinitions left of of the google disscussion...

OMG!
You're absolutely right. I think there's an article on big numbers onebooks, and if that happens a mention will surely bee added and a link...

how thoughtlss of me - itjust didn't occur...

has anybody else noticed ho annoyed it is that netscape 4.7 sometimes just ignores keypresses?

Hear! Hear!

I finally found a reference to the story of the naming at http://ftp.logica.com/~stepneys/cyc/g/googol.htm

by the way - don't even bother trying to ask google.com who named the number 'google'...

Wrong. The number 1 followed by a hundred zeroes is called a googol, not a google.

There is also a number called a googolplex, which is 1 followed by a googol zeroes.

OMG - is that true? I'd always written it google...

To answer my own question - a quick trip to dictionary.com confirms it; the number is spelt googol...

Well, I stand corrected, but due to our own error it might be fair to assume others might make the same mistake... I'm still for a reference that would head one in the right direction....