Author Topic: EBS Numbers  (Read 2264 times)

Jubal

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EBS Numbers
« on: May 22, 2015, 12:10:44 AM »
Erdos Bacon Sabbath numbers! I feel like we've had a thread on these before but I can't find it, so new thread is a go.

http://erdosbaconsabbath.com/

Basically the EBS number is formed of three parts:

ERDOS number - academic paper or book collaborations away from mathematician Paul Erdos
BACON number - TV and Film appearances away from Kevin Bacon
SABBATH number - musical performances or song releases away from Black Sabbath

The aim is to have the lowest possible number - an accolade apparently held by Stephen Hawking, on eight or nine depending on what you allow. What you allow is somewhat thorny as an issue, particularly when one gets into minor humanities pseudojournals or into un-reviewed but publicly published paper archives for Erdos numbers, or minor TV appearances for Bacon numbers.

I feel we should work out if any of us have any of these numbers - I doubt any of us have an EBS number, simply getting one is quite an achievement. But would be interesting to know if any of us have racked up any of the three. So please state any musical collaborations, TV/film appearances, or papers/books, you have done along with other people, and we'll try and trace your number back!

EXILIAN CHART:
NameErdosBaconSabbathEBS?
Fish Priest53715
JubalINFINF6INF+INF+6
« Last Edit: July 02, 2015, 11:38:27 PM by Jubal »
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Jubal

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Re: EBS Numbers
« Reply #1 on: May 22, 2015, 12:19:43 AM »
For myself (doubleposted to split this from the OP) I have no Bacon number as far as I know - I don't think I've ever appeared on TV - and I've never been a co-author on a paper, I've had thanks as a proofreader on academic publications but that doesn't quite count.

Curiously, I do notch up a respectable Sabbath number of (at most) six, via the following performance collaboration chain:
6 Jubal -> 5 Jubal's older sister -> 4 Phil Beer -> 3 Steve Knightley -> 2 Tom Robinson -> 1 Jo Burt -> 0 Black Sabbath

(The me/my sister links were at public, charity-funding concerts, to clarify - I don't think school stuff would count, but I feel open-door pay to get in concerts are fair game and we have done a couple of those).
The duke, the wanderer, the philosopher, the mariner, the warrior, the strategist, the storyteller, the wizard, the wayfarer...

Fish Priest

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Re: EBS Numbers
« Reply #2 on: June 20, 2015, 01:35:27 PM »
OK: Erdös number is currently at most 5, should hopefully be coming down to 4 in the reasonable future.
Via: Jin-Chong Tan, Martin T. Dove, Warren D. Smith, George B. Purdy, Paul Erdös

Bacon number is arguably 3 via Jeremy Paxman and Kevin Faulkner (University Challenge, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, X-Men: First Class). Not sure if this counts!

Sabbath number is at most 7:
Owen Woods*-Mel Biggs**-Jo Freya-Andy Cutting-Sting-B.J. Cole-Glenn Hughes

*Public gig where people paid to get in
**Haven't released an album yet but have stuff up on Soundcloud

So I may have a finite EBS number!
« Last Edit: June 20, 2015, 01:47:06 PM by Fish Priest »

Jubal

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Re: EBS Numbers
« Reply #3 on: July 02, 2015, 11:34:12 PM »
I'm pretty sure TV does indeed count, so you do have a finite EBS (congratulations on being the most horrifically talented person on Exilian :P )

I feel like the Bacon number is probably the easiest of the three to obtain, the Erdos definitely by far the hardest (especially for people like me who aren't actually scientists at all).
« Last Edit: July 02, 2015, 11:39:13 PM by Jubal »
The duke, the wanderer, the philosopher, the mariner, the warrior, the strategist, the storyteller, the wizard, the wayfarer...