Subject: Primes In Nature
Date: Sat, 08 Aug 1998 22:09:17 -0700
From: Tegan Rieske

My father said that prime numbers do not occur in nature. I pointed out that two insects (that i know of) have lifespans of prime numbers: magicicada septendecim and magicicada tredicim (17 and 13, respectively). He said you have to count the number of days in each year, and that therefore he was correct. I think he's wrong; it seems to me that since prime numbers are the "atoms of mathamatics," they would occur in nature anyway.

So, do prime numbers occur in nature or not?

Thanks,
Tegan Rieske

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