His spreadsheet showed: 1.9/7 = 0.2714 million per program for all seven — which made no sense, because that sum is only 1.9 million total, but 0.2714 × 7 = exactly 1.9 — yes, that works. But then education gets the same as others, contradicting the mayor.
It came from the fraction .
"1.9/7 is not a simple multiple of 1/7 because 1.9 isn't an integer. But if you multiply 1.9/7 by 10, you get 19/7 = 2.7142857..., whose fractional part is 5/7 (0.714285...). So our number hides the famous '142857' cycle in disguise.
He pulled up a chart.
The confusion forced the council to re-examine. In the end, they learned: a simple ratio like 1.9/7 can expose faulty assumptions. The number itself is neutral, but how we use it reveals our logic — or lack thereof." "Finally," Dr. Ellison smiled, "1.9/7 appears in astronomy. The ratio of Earth's diameter (12,742 km) to the sum of the diameters of Mars and Venus (about 12,000 km) is roughly 1.06 — not our number. But the ratio of the orbital period of Jupiter (11.86 years) to Saturn (29.46 years) squared? Not relevant.
Her supervisor, Dr. Ellison, glanced at the number. "That," he said, "is an unassuming but revealing little ratio. Do you know where it hides?"
