Definition:Euler Lucky Number/Historical Note

Historical Note on Euler Lucky Number

When Charles Babbage built a trial version of his analytical engine, he set it to work calculating a list of values of Euler lucky numbers.

David Brewster reported:

thirty-two numbers of the same table were calculated in the space of two minutes and thirty seconds; and as these contained eighty-two figures, the engine produced thirty-three figures every minute, or more than one figure in every two seconds. On another occasion it produced forty-four figures per minute. This rate of computation could be maintained for any length of time; and it is probable that few writers are able to copy with equal speed for many hours together.

Sources

• 1856: David Brewster: Letters on Natural Magic

• 1986: David Wells: Curious and Interesting Numbers ... (previous) ... (next): $41$
• 1997: David Wells: Curious and Interesting Numbers (2nd ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): $41$