Googology

Googology is the study and nomenclature of large numbers, particularly (but not limited to) those related to the googol. Googology, coined by Andre Joyce, is a portmanteau of googol and the Greek "-ology" suffix.

Googology is not to be confused with googlology, the study of the Google search engine and its various other services.

One who studies and invents large numbers and large number names is known as a googologist, and a large number name is known as a googologism. Googology is known for the rather comic names given to the googologisms, such as "meameamealokkapoowa oompa", "a-ooga", and "wompogulus".

Although the term googology is modern, the subject could be said to have existed for as long as humans have been fascinated by large numbers.

The earliest known work by a "googologist" is probably the "sand reckoner" written by Archimedes, a greek polymath, sometime in the 3rd century B.C. In it he develops a system of numbers extending to 10^(8*10^16).

There is other examples in ancient history that illustrate man's fascination, and even adeptness, with large numbers. Some religious texts contain some very large numbers. Although the bible contains no definite numbers greater than 10^8, it uses figurative language in many places to describe very large numbers such as "the stars in the sky", or "the sands of the sea".

With the advent of modern mathematics, and the impending invention of the computer, mathematicians of the 19th and 20th century explored numbers much much larger than any previous generation. This fascination was relayed to the laymen through popular books on mathematics. The "googol", "googolplex", and "mega" were all introduced in books of popular mathematics, written by mathematicians who wanted to explain to the laymen what mathematicians meant when they envoked infinity.

Eventually, the fascination of large numbers spread to a class of amateurs who took it upon themselves to extend the ideas hinted at in these popular books on mathematics. These became the early ''googologists. ''This took on something of a form of a hobby, that still continues today, with amateurs writing papers claiming to have "invented the largest number ever". That being said, not everything produced is brilliant, nor is it all crank mathematics. There is a variety of skill levels, and some of googology actually comes from professional mathematicians, not amateurs. Examples of googology from professional mathematics includes, Graham's Number, Conway Chain Arrows, the fast growing hierarchy, the function TREE(n), etc.

During most of the 20th Century, early googologists worked in isolation. Since the advent of the internet however, there has been a greater confluence of ideas, and websites, such as googology wiki, have sprung up, to gather the loose bits of information that form the body of knowledge and conventions known as googology. Although googology remains, and will probably always be, an obscure, esoteric, and impractical study, it at least now has a name, a history, and a community.