← 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 →
← 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 →
59 (fifty-nine) is the natural number that follows the integer 58 and precedes the integer 60. It's a number that sits in the middle, unremarkable to most, yet holding its own peculiar significance in the grand tapestry of mathematics and beyond.
In mathematics
Fifty-nine, in its quiet existence, is the seventeenth prime number. This is a fundamental characteristic, meaning it can only be evenly divided by 1 and itself. It’s a solitary figure in the realm of divisibility, standing apart from composite numbers. Furthermore, it claims the title of the seventh super-prime, a classification that suggests a certain elevated status within the prime hierarchy. Its primality isn't just a simple fact; it’s part of a more complex mathematical landscape.
It also happens to be a good prime, a Higgs prime, an irregular prime, a Pillai prime, a Ramanujan prime, a safe prime, and a supersingular prime. These are not mere labels; they are descriptors of its behavior within various number-theoretic systems, revealing intricate relationships with other mathematical concepts. To be an irregular prime, for instance, means it doesn't behave as expected within certain algebraic structures, a hint of its individuality.
The prime number that follows fifty-nine is sixty-one. Together, they form a twin prime pair, two primes separated by the smallest possible even gap. This adjacency, this shared proximity in the prime sequence, is a subtle yet elegant pairing.
Beyond its prime status, fifty-nine holds a unique position in geometry. There are precisely 59 distinct stellations of the regular icosahedron. A stellation is essentially the process of extending the faces of a polyhedron outwards to form new, intersecting faces. The fact that there are exactly fifty-nine such unique forms for the icosahedron is a testament to the complex and varied symmetries inherent in this particular Platonic solid. It's a number that dictates the very architecture of its geometric possibilities.
In other fields
Fifty-nine isn't confined to the abstract world of numbers and theorems. It surfaces in more practical, albeit sometimes quirky, human constructs.
One such instance is the "59-minute rule." This is less a formal regulation and more an informal understanding in certain work environments. It's the idea that employees might be permitted to leave work slightly before the official closing time, typically just before a holiday. The "59 minutes" is significant because leaving a full hour early often requires formal leave or approval, whereas leaving just shy of that hour—fifty-nine minutes early—might be overlooked or implicitly permitted, often as a concession to help people avoid the worst of holiday traffic. It's a small, human workaround, a tiny rebellion against the clock.
Historically, fifty-nine gained a certain notoriety in the context of feminism during the 1970s. A common campaign button bore the number 59. This was in direct reference to the statistic that, at the time, a woman earned approximately 59 cents for every dollar earned by an equally qualified man. It was a stark, quantifiable symbol of the gender pay gap, a rallying cry for equal pay and recognition. The number itself became a potent reminder of systemic inequality.
The number 59, therefore, is not just a digit on a sequence. It’s a prime number with a rich mathematical identity, a geometric enumerator, and a historical marker for both subtle workplace practices and significant social movements. It’s a number that, upon closer inspection, reveals more than its simple numerical value might suggest.