EDIT: This one really belongs to the Things You Don't Need to Know thread, but by mistake I posted it here. Can one of the powers that be move it?
You know about the Erdos number, right? If not, you should at least be aware of the Bacon number which describes how close (in the sense of acting) you are to Kevin Bacon. Kevin Bacon has Bacon number 0. Anyone who has acted with Kevin Bacon has Bacon number 1. Anyone who has acted with someone who has acted with Kevin Bacon (but not acted with him) has Bacon number 2. And so on. If you've never acted with someone who has acted with who has ... acted with Kevin Bacon your number is infinite.
The Erdos number describes how close you are to the very prolific (1500 papers) mathematician Paul Erdos (1913-1996). Erdos is of course number 0 and anyone who has published a paper with Paul Erdos has Erdos number 1. And so on. For the record, the Erdos number predates the Bacon number.
But what about actors that also have published a scientific paper? The Erdos-Bacon number takes care of those. It's defined as the sum of the Erdos and Bacon numbers. The actress and mathematician Danica McKellar has a Bacon number 2, and an Erdos number 4, so her Erdos-Bacon is 6.
It gets weirder:
The Erdos-Bacon-Sabbath number describes your connection to Erdos, Bacon and ... Black Sabbath (you have performed with someone who has performed with someone who has... performed with Black Sabbath. Or a member of the band). There aren't many with a finite E-B-S number but there are at least 44 (https://web.archive.org/web/20171223101101/http://erdosbaconsabbath.com/). Among those are Richard Feynman (10), Stephen Hawking (8) and Natalie Portman (11). Even Albert Einstein (11). The least surprising is perhaps Brian May (9).
Finally:
The Morphy number describes chess players' connection to Paul Morphy (1837-1884). Given the time since his death, there aren't anyone with number 1 and 2 alive, but in 2019 there were a few number 3s. Which means that if at least one of them are still among us, it's still possible to be awarded number 4. Otherwise it's 5. Magnus Carlsen has Morphy number 5.
Stephen Hawking has played chess. Which means, depending on circumstances, he may have a finite Morphy number and therefore also an Erdos-Bacon-Sabbath-Morphy number. I don't know, haven't found any solid references, but according to some sources, he wasn't very serious about the game. There is a video where he plays "quantum chess" with Paul Rudd. I haven't watched it. If he had one, his Morphy number must have been at least 2, giving an Erdos-Bacon-Sabbath-Morphy number no less than 11.
pibbuR who may have a finite Erdos number, since has published one article. For the others - not a chance.
PS. If you want to find your Erdos number, Oakland University may help you (https://oakland.edu/enp/compute/) DS.
You know about the Erdos number, right? If not, you should at least be aware of the Bacon number which describes how close (in the sense of acting) you are to Kevin Bacon. Kevin Bacon has Bacon number 0. Anyone who has acted with Kevin Bacon has Bacon number 1. Anyone who has acted with someone who has acted with Kevin Bacon (but not acted with him) has Bacon number 2. And so on. If you've never acted with someone who has acted with who has ... acted with Kevin Bacon your number is infinite.
The Erdos number describes how close you are to the very prolific (1500 papers) mathematician Paul Erdos (1913-1996). Erdos is of course number 0 and anyone who has published a paper with Paul Erdos has Erdos number 1. And so on. For the record, the Erdos number predates the Bacon number.
But what about actors that also have published a scientific paper? The Erdos-Bacon number takes care of those. It's defined as the sum of the Erdos and Bacon numbers. The actress and mathematician Danica McKellar has a Bacon number 2, and an Erdos number 4, so her Erdos-Bacon is 6.
It gets weirder:
The Erdos-Bacon-Sabbath number describes your connection to Erdos, Bacon and ... Black Sabbath (you have performed with someone who has performed with someone who has... performed with Black Sabbath. Or a member of the band). There aren't many with a finite E-B-S number but there are at least 44 (https://web.archive.org/web/20171223101101/http://erdosbaconsabbath.com/). Among those are Richard Feynman (10), Stephen Hawking (8) and Natalie Portman (11). Even Albert Einstein (11). The least surprising is perhaps Brian May (9).
Finally:
The Morphy number describes chess players' connection to Paul Morphy (1837-1884). Given the time since his death, there aren't anyone with number 1 and 2 alive, but in 2019 there were a few number 3s. Which means that if at least one of them are still among us, it's still possible to be awarded number 4. Otherwise it's 5. Magnus Carlsen has Morphy number 5.
Stephen Hawking has played chess. Which means, depending on circumstances, he may have a finite Morphy number and therefore also an Erdos-Bacon-Sabbath-Morphy number. I don't know, haven't found any solid references, but according to some sources, he wasn't very serious about the game. There is a video where he plays "quantum chess" with Paul Rudd. I haven't watched it. If he had one, his Morphy number must have been at least 2, giving an Erdos-Bacon-Sabbath-Morphy number no less than 11.
pibbuR who may have a finite Erdos number, since has published one article. For the others - not a chance.
PS. If you want to find your Erdos number, Oakland University may help you (https://oakland.edu/enp/compute/) DS.
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How about receiving an email, or a PM from me? Some might like to claim getting a Warning from me here, etc, etc, should count as well!! YES, I can see this spiralling out of control. What have you started Pibs!!??!! 
