Number 1: Numbers are thought by many to be more than simple concepts. But does a number have any inherent meaning? To answer this question, let's examine the number 3. I draw two similarly-oriented half-circles both connected at their ends and move it so that it's taller than it is wide. What does this mean? You may recognize it as a number, but what if I distort it a little? Imagine I make the symbol incredibly short, and it begins to resemble a line. In my mind, homeomorphic shapes are essentially the same. What meaning do you see in the line? Certainly you don't associate it with a triangle or a Triforce.
Number 2: I'm not really sure when my fascination with numbers came to be. There was always that arcane book called "number power" sitting on the near-unreachable shelf in my parents' room taunting me like the raven on the bust of Pallas. I'd earlier seen my father reading it, and the looks of twisted confusion on his face as he was reading (presumably) the later, more difficult chapters made me realize that I deeply wanted to read the book. One day, I hauled a large chair into the room and hoisted myself until I could barely grab the book with my seven-year-old fingers. I can't remember a time in my childhood when I was more enthralled by a book.
Number 3: It is my opinion that common knowledge about the different kinds of numbers is only skin-deep. Most people could tell you that the integers are whole numbers, and almost as many could tell you that real numbers are made up of the integers as well as the decimals. But who knows that imaginary numbers have both a real and imaginary component? We all know that pi is irrational, but how many people that you meet on the street could tell you that irrational numbers are defined as ones that can't be expressed as a fraction? And what of the transcendental numbers? The eternal symbol, e, can't possibly be the root of a real polynomial with real or integer coefficients (e.g. 4.5x^2 + 1.33x + 0.66), but how many people would know that? This lack of general knowledge is lamentable.
Number 4: According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary , are "arithmetical value(s), expressed by a word or symbol, representing a particular quantity." This definition, however, makes numbers seem less important than they actually are. Most would agree that numbers are more than just for counting: they allow for the creation of a mathematical framework in which we solve various problems in the world. Without numbers, people would have an awfully hard time communicating amounts, dates, or specific information about cargo, food, etc. Numbers are basically the blocks upon which buildings, machines, and inventions are built.
Number 5: I believe there should be a national day of recognition for math and science in the US. Granted, we wouldn't get a day off from school, but it would be a day to reaffirm our commitment to education and engineering. Consider just how much numbers have shaped our society: without them we would be severely limited in our ability to communicate amounts. For example, most people would be dissatisfied with the US government if their yearly debt report simply stated "a lot." Without a strong commitment to science and math, we as a country are doomed to fall behind other industrialized nations very rapidly in the fields of innovation and business, thus such a day would not only be beneficial but necessary.
Number 6: No one is quite sure who wrote the first number. Of course, we've all seen the Egyptian Hieroglyphs, but the point at which humans evolved enough to sufficiently understand the concept of "amount" and the written language is still obscure. Obviously the need to communicate amount is what preceded the invention of numbers. As societies evolved, the need for numbers became inevitable, and thus they came to be used in common practice. With the proliferation of these symbols, suddenly a new level of depth of meaning in communication was possible. As a result, societies were able to expand, civilizations arose, buildings were made and copied elsewhere, and humanity was able to advance.
I hope you had fun reading my spiels. In case you were wondering, the rhetorical modes that these were written in will be available at some point on Sunday or Monday. As always, have a nice day.