Weekly Short Story: A Problem of Numbers by Isaac Asimov

If Dean Karnazes can make the claim as the most famous ultramarathon runner around (I haven't heard him do this), then the late Isaac Asimov could have also boasted of ultramarathon accomplishments within his field...he authored or contributed to more than 500 books in his lifetime and wrote countless short stories.  His fiction usually has a strong intellectual bent to it, but the characters can often seem a little shallow and undeveloped.  However, although Asimov isn't my absolute favorite author, his stories are always interesting and leave me with something to think about when I've finished them.  A case in point: his short story A Problem of Numbers, published in 1970 and appearing in the collection The Best Mysteries of Isaac Asimov (Ballantine Books, 1986)...

A chemistry graduate student approaches his accomplished professor and asks for his approval to marry his daughter.  The professor, knowing that the two have been romantically involved, replies that his blessing isn't necessary but that he will give it if the young man can decipher a numerical code he writes down...and then explain how he reached his solution.  I'm not exactly spoiling the story's plot by noting that the student does solve the problem and gives a reasonable explanation as well...it's what he says at the very end that is the "punch line" for this intriguing story, revealing a lot about how the great scientists and mathematicians (or writers, composers, artists, etc.) think, commonly-held public impressions to the contrary...

Intuition, or as some might called it, "gut feeling", accounts for a great deal of thinking in areas that you might believe are completely bound to precise, provable reason. Starting at the beginning and going from line to line is the standard way that logical arguments, mathematical proofs...and literature and music...are usually presented.  But when creating those arguments, proofs, and stories, the thinking is nothing but linear.  There seems to be a kind of well that great thinkers have learned to draw from, a source of enlightenment so to speak, that enables them to see around problems and detect the patterns that point toward their solution...this certainly was the case in A Problem of Numbers.  There are few things in this world as sweet as the "eureka" moment when everything comes together and becomes clear...or when a very simple solution to a seemingly intractable problem suddenly makes itself known.  I live for these moments...and recommend Asimov's clever short story...