en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Library_of_Babel
1 correction found
about 104677 books
The number is missing exponential notation. Sources describing Jonathan Basile’s site say it contains about 10^4677 books, not 104,677 books.
Full reasoning
This figure is off by an enormous factor because the intended quantity is written in scientific/exponential notation.
Credible descriptions of Jonathan Basile’s Library of Babel site state that it contains roughly 10^4677 books (ten to the 4,677th power), not 104,677 books. For example:
- Popular Science describes the site as containing "about 10^4677 books."
- The Cornell Daily Sun likewise explains that the site contains every possible 3,200-character page, which works out to "around 10^4677 books."
So the article text as shown here has dropped the exponent formatting and turned 10^4677 into 104677, which is factually incorrect.
2 sources
- Explore an Infinite Library from Home
Arranged in hexagonal rooms, each with four walls that have five shelves containing 32 books each, it currently contains about 10^4677 books.
- JONES | Looking for Meaning in the Library of Babel - The Cornell Daily Sun
Instead, the site contains somewhere every possible page of 3200 characters, which means around 10^4677 books.