This text originated as a lecture delivered November 20, 1984, at
Queen's University, in the undergraduate colloquium senes. In another
colloquium lecture, my colleague Morris Orzech, who had consulted the
latest edition of the Guinness Book of Records, reminded me very gently
that the most "innumerate" people of the world are of a certain trible
in Mato Grosso, Brazil. They do not even have a word to express the
number "two" or the concept of plurality. "Yes, Morris, I'm from Brazil,
but my book will contain numbers different from -one.''' He added that
the most boring 800-page book is by two Japanese mathematicians (whom
I'll not name) and consists of about 16 million decimal digits of the
number Te. "I assure you, Morris, that in spite of the beauty of the
appar- ent randomness of the decimal digits of Te, I'll be sure that my
text will include also some words." And then I proceeded putting
together the magic combina- tion of words and numbers, which became The
Book of Prime Number Records. If you have seen it, only extreme
curiosity could impel you to have this one in your hands. The New Book
of Prime Number Records differs little from its predecessor in the
general planning. But it contains new sections and updated records.