Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon: Difference between revisions
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Mathematicians have extrapolated this phenomenon and given it a name: "[[Bacon Number]]", which sounds like one of those impossibly high numbers with dangerous implications for the [[Divide by Zero|future of the universe]] but is in fact incredibly low. Researchers have demonstrated (''true story!'') that almost everyone has a Bacon Number < 10, due to Kevin Bacon appearing in, mathematically speaking, [[Hey, It's That Guy!|almost every film]] on the planet. For instance, [[Kevin Bacon]] himself has a Bacon Number of 0. Chew on ''that'', [[Mr. T]]! |
Mathematicians have extrapolated this phenomenon and given it a name: "[[Bacon Number]]", which sounds like one of those impossibly high numbers with dangerous implications for the [[Divide by Zero|future of the universe]] but is in fact incredibly low. Researchers have demonstrated (''true story!'') that almost everyone has a Bacon Number < 10, due to Kevin Bacon appearing in, mathematically speaking, [[Hey, It's That Guy!|almost every film]] on the planet. For instance, [[Kevin Bacon]] himself has a Bacon Number of 0. Chew on ''that'', [[Mr. T]]! |
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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 currently rests with Dennis Hopper, followed by [[Harvey Keitel]] and Donald Sutherland. |
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 currently rests with [[Dennis Hopper]], followed by [[Harvey Keitel]] and [[Donald Sutherland]]. |
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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 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]].) |
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