a b Karacs, Imre (29 July 2000). "From long division to multiplication". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2022-06-18 . Retrieved 26 October 2011. On the seventh day of the seventh month in the Chinese lunar calendar, the ghost month starts. On this month, hellish ghosts are believed to rise from hell to dwell on the Earth. During ghost month, the ghosts of the underworld walk the Earth to wreak havoc. They bring a lot of negative energy, so establishments and business owners are advised to cease certain activities. It is not recommended to start a new business, sign contracts, and do renovations on the ghost month. Using gematria, scholars have variously decoded 666 to learn the biblical beast’s name. A leading theory deciphers 666 as Nron Qsr or Nro Qsr, taken as the Greek and Latin, respectively, for Nero Caesar. The beastly 666, then, may refer to Nero’s persecution of early Christians, though this theory has historical problems. Another similarly problematic theory identifies 666 as Muhammed, the founding Islamic prophet viewed as a false prophet in medieval Christianity. The association of 666 with evil originates from a passage in the Book of Revelations in the New Testament of the Bible. As it reads in the King James Version (13:18): All dwelling earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

The Number Devil: A Mathematical Adventure ( German: Der Zahlenteufel. Ein Kopfkissenbuch für alle, die Angst vor der Mathematik haben) is a book for children and young adults that explores mathematics. It was originally written in 1997 in German by Hans Magnus Enzensberger and illustrated by Rotraut Susanne Berner. The book follows a young boy named Robert, who is taught mathematics by a sly "number devil" called Teplotaxl over the course of twelve dreams. Over the course of twelve dreams, the Number Devil teaches Robert mathematical principles. On the first night, the Number Devil appears to Robert in an oversized world and introduces the number one. The next night, the Number Devil emerges in a forest of trees shaped like "ones" and explains the necessity of the number zero, negative numbers, and introduces hopping, a fictional term to describe exponentiation. On the third night, the Number Devil brings Robert to a cave and reveals how prima-donna numbers ( prime numbers) can only be divided by themselves and one without a remainder. Later, on the fourth night, the Number Devil teaches Robert about rutabagas, another fictional term to depict square roots, at a beach.Are there numbers you avoid in your life? Are you terrified of these numbers enough to develop a phobia?

On the ninth night, Robert dreams he is in bed, suffering from the flu, when the Number Devil appears next to him. The Number Devil teaches Robert about natural numbers, which the Number Devil calls garden-variety numbers, the unusual characteristics of infinite, and infinite series. Robert finds himself at the North Pole, where the Number Devil introduces irrational numbers ( unreasonable numbers), as well as aspects of Euclidean geometry, such as vertices ( dots) and edges ( lines). By the eleventh night, Robert has shown considerable increased interest in mathematics, but questions its validity, to which the Number Devil introduces the concept of mathematical proofs, ending with the Number Devil showing Robert a complicated proof of basic arithmetic. On the twelfth night, Robert and the Number Devil receive an invitation (which names the Number Devil as Teplotaxl) to Number Heaven, as Robert's time with the Number Devil has finished. At Number Heaven, Robert learns of imaginary numbers, which Teplotaxl describes as imaginative numbers, as well as the Klein bottle. Walking through Number Heaven, Teplotaxl introduces Robert to various famous mathematicians, such as Fibonacci, whom Teplotaxl calls Bonacci, and George Cantor, or Professor Singer. The book ends with Robert in class using his newfound mathematical knowledge. If a house or apartment has a number four in it, the property will sell for much lower. The aversion for number four is so intense; it is almost at taboo. When you mention number four to an ill family member, it is considered offensive. If you give anyone anything that bears the number four, it is even considered a death threat. China avoids the number four so intensely that they even skipped bidding for the Olympics in 2004 and instead settled for 2008! Number 9 The Number of Torture If someone calls another person 39, it is considered an insult and has even caused a fight between Parliament nominees. However, many imams or holy priests tried to allay the public’s fears with the number 39, citing that Islamic texts will have verses at number 39. However, this does not stop people from believing the superstition and associating the number with shame. 666 The Number of the Beast Experiencing a negative credit rating or less than an affluent bank balance will fill anyone with horror. The second person who owned this number was shot on the street for no reason. The third owner of this number likewise died from gunshots on the street. News spread about this number, and no one will have anything to do with it. Because of this, the mobile phone company that runs this number, Mobitel, has canceled it because of public fear. Any person who attempts to call this number will get a prerecorded message that the number is outside network coverage. Number 7 The Ghost Month

Number 4

Malefic numbers can appear in the personal chart either as a Soul number, Destiny Number, Personality Number, or Life Path Number. These numbers are considered to have karmic baggage behind them. The malefic numbers are 14, 16, and 19. Why are they so bad? When they appear in your chart, it signals that a power you possessed has been misused and abused in the past. In this lifetime, you may be called on to correct the karmic balance. Malefic Number 14 Robert is a young boy who suffers from mathematical anxiety due to his boredom in school. His mother is Mrs. Wilson. He also experiences recurring dreams—including falling down an endless slide or being eaten by a giant fish—but is interrupted from this sleep habit one night by a small devil creature who introduces himself as the Number Devil. Although there are many Number Devils (from Number Heaven), Robert only knows him as the Number Devil before learning of his actual name, Teplotaxl, later in the story. Eisenbichler, Ernst. "Der "Fliegende Robert" der Literaten". Bayerischer Rundfunk (in German) . Retrieved 16 December 2011. The idea of the “number of a man” or “beast” may refer to the practice of gematria in Jewish numerology, where every letter of the Hebrew alphabet corresponds to a number (e.g., aleph=1, bet=2, etc.), and words and names correspond to the sums of these numbers. For some, numbers are terrifying because of their lifelong negative experience with it in math lessons…

There have been many theories about the nature of the beast about this number. Some attribute this number to Nero of Rome. The name of Nero Caesar in Hebrew Gematria translates to 666 and is the secret code of people who are speaking against the Emperor. However, some Christian scholars argue that the beast number points to a future prophetic event that is yet to come and will fulfill the following events: Chilling. Will an ancient Emperor resurrect as a modern man and rule us all in the iron-fisted way of an era gone by? Greek soothsayers seem to think so. Auclaire-Meier, Sebastien. " Der Zahlenteufel. Ein Hörspiel in neun Nächten für alle, die Angst vor der Mathematik haben" (in German). Archived from the original on 26 April 2012 . Retrieved 16 December 2011. Enzensberger, Hans Magnus (1998). The Number Devil: A Mathematical Adventure. Translated by Michael Henry Heim. New York: Henry Holt & Company. ISBN 0-8050-5770-6.a b Deborah Loewenberg Ball and Hyman Bass (January 2000). "The Number Devil book review" (PDF). Notices of the AMS. 47 (1): 51–56 . Retrieved 3 September 2011. This number is related to vulnerability and sensuality. This number symbolizes fallen power, humiliation, and discontent. If the Destiny number falls on the 16, it may connote the loss of a good name. False investments may occur, and trouble in one’s professional and social life may happen. You may have been in a once high position, but credibility, respect and power was lost. When this appears as a Soul number, there may be a disappointment in romantic relationships. You may suffer a broken heart, and friends may not turn out the way you expect them to be. There is a possibility that children will be a disappointment. If this appears in the Personality Number, it can indicate loss of vitality and health. When number 16 appears as a Life path number, there may be a rise and fall in power. It may indicate that you would rather adopt an apathetic attitude rather than risk being hurt. Malefic Number 19 Matsumoto, Valerie J. "Faculty Show Depth, Breadth of the Written Word". UCLA Today. University of California Press. Archived from the original on 4 April 2012 . Retrieved 23 October 2011. For a time after the fourth night, Robert cannot find the Number Devil in his dreams; later, however, on the fifth night, Robert finds himself at a desert where the Number Devil teaches him about triangular numbers through the use of coconuts. On the sixth night, the Number Devil teaches Robert about the natural occurrence of Fibonacci numbers, which the Number Devil shortens to Bonacci numbers, by counting brown and white rabbits as they reproduce multiple times. By this dream, Robert's mother has noticed a visible change in Robert's mathematical interest, and Robert begins going to sleep earlier to encounter the Number Devil. The seventh night brings Robert to a bare, white room, where the Number Devil presents Pascal's triangle and the patterns that the triangular array displays. On the eighth night, Robert is brought to his classroom at school. The Number Devil arranges Robert's classmates in multiple ways, teaches him about permutations, and what the Number Devil calls vroom numbers ( factorials).

a b Pakenham, Michael (11 October 1998). "Does your head need exercise? Here's just the book for you". The Baltimore Sun . Retrieved 3 September 2011. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six. Gardner, Michael (8 November 1998). "It All Adds Up". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 3 September 2011. In Christianity, 666 is referred to in (most manuscripts of) chapter 13 of the Book of Revelation of the New Testament as the " number of the beast." [1] [2] [3] In mathematics [ edit ]

Number 39

Thuy-Anh Mai, Angie. "Personal Reflections on The Number Devil". Math Horizons. Mathematical Association of America . Retrieved 16 December 2011. Number four is associated with something dark and horrific in China. The Chinese word for the number four is similar to their word for death. The Chinese are very superstitious, and because of this, they regard the number four with much fear and disdain. Many buildings in China will skip the fourth floor. The number four has a sound very similar to (sǐ), the Chinese word for death. Chinese superstition with a number four is so prevalent that it is avoided in other things such as phone numbers, license plates, ID numbers, and product names.