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The Motorist’s Complaint

There are 8 ways to fold a 2 × 2 map along its creases:

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:MapFoldings-2x2.png
Image: Wikimedia Commons

But no one knows how to calculate the number of ways that a larger map might be folded. Amazingly, the number of ways to fold an n × n map has been worked out only as high as 7 × 7:

1, 8, 1368, 300608, 186086600, 123912532224, 129950723279272

Via Fermat’s Library.

July 2, 2019July 11, 2019 | Science & Math

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Futility Closet is a collection of entertaining curiosities in history, literature, language, art, philosophy, and mathematics, designed to help you waste time as enjoyably as possible.

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