The Weird Number

Summary

The story unfolds in a town of natural numbers, where theft was once unheard of due to the predictable nature of its citizens. However, a strange robbery involving fractional pieces sparks intrigue. The sheriff, 763, and the baker, 9, uncover a mysterious creature from the woods, part of a group of rational numbers like 2/3 and 4/6. As these rational numbers blend with the town, mysteries deepen when rumors surface about creatures that can't be represented as fractions, hinting at the existence of irrational numbers beyond the mountains.

Takeaways

• 🏘️ The story is set in a little town inhabited by natural numbers, surrounded by dark woods where strange rumors circulate.
• 🌲 Rumors suggest that there are other types of numbers in the woods beyond the mountains, but the townspeople dismiss these as they cannot imagine numbers outside of the natural ones.
• 🍞 The first unusual event occurs when 9, the town baker, reports a strange theft of just a piece of bread, which baffles the sheriff, 763.
• 🎭 The thief turns out to be a strange creature resembling a number with a 2 on top and a 3 on the bottom, identified as the fractional number two-thirds.
• 👻 The numbers from the woods, called rational numbers, have both a natural number on top and another natural number on the bottom.
• 🍰 These rational numbers, like one-half, two-thirds, and five-fourths, each have distinct behavior based on how they cut and eat cakes into fractions.
• 🤯 One, the mayor, learns that he can transform into five-fifths and other fractional forms, revealing that natural numbers can also be rational numbers.
• 🔄 The story introduces the concept that all natural numbers can take on various fractional forms, showing that they too are rational numbers.
• 🧐 The sheriff 763 realizes that four-sixths is the same as two-thirds, exposing the trickery of some rational numbers.
• 🌌 In the end, the townspeople begin to coexist with rational numbers, but rumors persist of even stranger numbers, possibly irrational, living beyond the mountains.

Q & A

What is the setting of the story?

The story is set in a little town nestled in the mountains, inhabited by natural numbers.

What rumors are circulating among the townspeople?

Rumors are circulating that other numbers, possibly non-natural numbers, live in the dark woods beyond the mountains.

Why were there no robberies in the town before?

There were no robberies because natural numbers in the town would only steal in quantities equal to their value, making it easy to identify the thief. For example, if five stole something, it would take exactly five of that item.

What was unusual about the robbery that Nine reported?

The robbery was unusual because only a part of one loaf of bread was stolen, not a whole number, which was unprecedented in the town of natural numbers.

What did 763 and Nine discover about the thief?

They discovered that the thief was a strange creature that divided a cake into three pieces, took two, and left one. This creature had a two on top and a three on the bottom, resembling the fraction two-thirds.

Who are the creatures from the dark woods?

The creatures from the dark woods are rational numbers, such as two-thirds, one-half, five-fourths, and four-sixths. These numbers have natural numbers on both the top (numerator) and bottom (denominator) of their forms.

What realization does the mayor, One, come to during the story?

The mayor, One, realizes that he too is a rational number and can take the form of five-fifths, demonstrating that all natural numbers are also rational numbers.

How did 763 discover that four-sixths and two-thirds are the same number?

763 realized that both four-sixths and two-thirds would take the same number of pieces of cake (two pieces out of three), revealing that they are equivalent fractions.

What happens to the town over time?

Over time, many rational numbers from the woods come to live in the town alongside the natural numbers, including two-thirds, who is continually chased by 763.

What new rumors emerge at the end of the story?

New rumors suggest that strange creatures are living in the dark woods, but these creatures are not rational numbers. Some are rumored to be irrational numbers, which cannot be represented as a ratio of two natural numbers.