Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon: Difference between revisions

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Curiously, the most connected person in acting is not [[Kevin Bacon]]. Research by people who found it important enough to do so discovered that the centre of the Hollywood universe shifts over time, and has rested with [[Dennis Hopper]], [[Harvey Keitel]], [[Donald Sutherland]], [[Rod Steiger]], and [[Eric Roberts]] at one time or another.

Mathematicians (and all scientists) also have a similar ranking called the Erdos Number, based on co-authorship of mathematical articles with deceased mathematician Paul Erdos. Inevitably there's a combination, the Erdos-Bacon number, based on adding the two together. Thanks to the documentaries, and occasional extra work on math-related films, some mathematicians have EB numbers as low as 3. More surprising are actors who attack the problem from the other side. Danica McKellar (Winnie from [[The Wonder Years]] and bona-fide mathematician) and [[Natalie Portman]] (wrote a psychology paper at Harvard with an Erdos link) each have Erdos-Bacon numbers of 6. (This ties them with [[Richard Feynman]].)

Mathematicians (and all scientists) also have a similar ranking called the Erdos Number, based on co-authorship of mathematical articles with deceased mathematician Paul Erdos. Inevitably there's a combination, the Erdos-Bacon number, based on adding the two together. Thanks to the documentaries, and occasional extra work on math-related films, some mathematicians have Erdos-Bacon numbers as low as 3. More surprising are actors who attack the problem from the other side. Danica McKellar (Winnie from [[The Wonder Years]] and bona-fide mathematician) and [[Natalie Portman]] (wrote a psychology paper at Harvard with an Erdos link) each have Erdos-Bacon numbers of 6. (This ties them with [[Richard Feynman]].)

For applications in fiction, see [[One Degree of Separation]].