Why 666?

Quite a few people asked me "why 666".

What 666 is: 666 is an abundant number. It is the sum of the first 36 natural numbers (i.e. 1 + 2 + 3... + 34 + 35 + 36 = 666), and thus a triangular number. Since 36 is both square and triangular, 666 is the sixth number of the form n²(n² + 1) /2 (triangular squares) and the eighth number of the form n(n + 1)(n² + n + 2) /8 (doubly triangular numbers.)

666 is the sum of the squares of the first seven prime numbers (i.e. 2² + 3² + 5² + 7² + 11² + 13² + 17² = 666).

The Roman numeral representation of the number 666 (DCLXVI) uses once each the Roman numeral symbols with values under 1,000, occurring in descending order of their respective values.

What 666 is not: 666 is not the number of the beast. A newly discovered fragment of the oldest surviving copy of the New Testament indicates that, as far as the Antichrist goes, theologians, scholars, heavy metal groups, and television evangelists have got the wrong number. Instead of 666, it's actually the far less ominous 616. Google "616" and you'll find the details.

So, why 666? will you believe me if I said that David-1, David-2, ...., David-665 were all taken? I thought so :-( oh well, I didn't really check all of them. 666 just sounded catchy, and it helps deterring any superstitious people.