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Leigh Mercer

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British recreational mathematician (1893–1977)

Leigh Mercer (1893–1977) was a British wordplay and recreational mathematics expert.

Career

Palindrome

Mercer is best known for devising the palindrome "A man, a plan, a canal: Panama!".

Mathematical limerick

The following mathematical limerick is attributed to him:

12 + 144 + 20 + 3 ⋅ 4 7 + ( 5 × 11 ) = 9 2 + 0 {\displaystyle {\frac {12+144+20+3\cdot {\sqrt {4}}}{7}}+(5\times 11)=9^{2}+0}

This is read as follows:

A dozen, a gross, and a score
Plus three times the square root of four
Divided by seven
Plus five times eleven
Is nine squared and not a bit more.

References

  1. A. Ross Eckler: Leigh Mercer, Palindromist. In: Word Ways. Volume 24, Issue 3, 1991, Article 2, p. 131–138
  2. Published in Notes and Queries, 13 Nov. 1948, according to The Yale Book of Quotations, F. R. Shapiro, ed. (2006, ISBN 0-300-10798-6).
  3. "Math Mayhem". Lhup.edu. Archived from the original on 2017-10-08. Retrieved 2011-06-29.
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