Why did Beckham choose the number 23 shirt? How is 17 the key to the evolutionary survival of a strange species of cicada? Prime numbers are the atoms of arithmetic - the hydrogen and oxygen of the world of numbers. Despite their fundamental importance to mathematics, they represent one of the most tantalising enigmas in the pursuit of human knowledge. In 1859, the German mathematician Bernhard Riemann put forward an idea - a hypothesis - which seemed to reveal a magical harmony at work in the numerical landscape. A million dollars now awaits the person who can unravel the mystery of the hidden music that might explain the cacophony of the primes.
Links:
The homepage of Marcus du SautoyThe music of the primes
