[quote]NOW THAT Google’s IPO is running, the company is on the verge of being sued by the family of a man who invented the word ‘Googol’ to describe a very big number.
Professor Edward Kasner came up with the word Googol, apparently at the suggestion of his 9-year-old nephew, Milton Sirotta.
He used the term in the 1940s in his book, Mathematics and the Imagination. For the record a googol is 10 raised to the 100th power – or the number 1 followed by a hundred zeros.
In 1955 he died and much later a search engine called Google was born. His relatives claim that Kasner must be spinning in his grave. They believe Google has gained financially at their expense and they want to become IPO insiders to put his soul to rest.
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Read More: Googol may sue Google
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People are just looking for new ways to make money :rolleyes:.
There are also some interesting comments on Neowin.net about this.
Comments
David Kornahrens (January 2nd, 2005, 11:21 am)
That is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard of. It’s not even the same word, just sounds the same. What’s that a synonym?
Matt Light (January 2nd, 2005, 4:01 pm)
I think you’re looking for the word homophone (“one of two or more words pronounced alike but different in meaning or derivation or spelling”). A synonym is two different words that mean the same thing.
David Kornahrens (January 2nd, 2005, 9:43 pm)
I’m sorry Im’ not great with English. I failed 8234 years straight.
saralk (January 5th, 2005, 2:09 am)
they are the same word, just spelt differently.
But this is stupid, if Google was called blagawagga (dont ask, just follow) it would still be just as successful.
Omar (January 8th, 2005, 11:54 pm)
Heh…. if somebody were suing Microsoft for the same thing… we all would be applauding…. :p