I remember reading somewhere that 0 and 1 are both neither prime nor composite. So what are they?
Cecil wrote about that in his is-2-even-or-not column:
http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mzeroeven.html
It’s of course whether 0 is odd or even, not two. Sorry.
They’re just bits.
It also wasn’t one of Cecil’s columns, but was written by SDStaff Dex. Sorry, but I couldn’t resist being a stickler.
“Ask Dr. Math” is really cool. They get math professors to answer questions that math students (and probably most of the general population) have about math. Here’s what they have to say about what to call 1 and what to call 0:
http://forum.swarthmore.edu/dr.math/problems/christy10.6.97.html
23skidoo
*Originally posted by 23skidoo *
**“Ask Dr. Math” is really cool. They get math professors to answer questions that math students (and probably most of the general population) have about math. Here’s what they have to say about what to call 1 and what to call 0:http://forum.swarthmore.edu/dr.math/problems/christy10.6.97.html
23skidoo **
That’s what I was looking for. Thanks.