7

By David M Eastis

It connects the Bible and the Torah and the Koran. It's a common thread that runs through world geography, American history, and human physiology. It's also quite handy if you're headed to Manhattan from Queens. It's the number seven. And its many associations, connections, and affiliations are inside for you to decipher, discover, and enjoy.

Flip through these intriguing pages and begin to unravel the many secrets of seven. Each image relates to a piece of trivia that adds to the number's mystery. By finding the meaning behind all the graphics, you'll soon discover the connective powers the number seven retains.

From sports and science to religion and pop culture, the range of trivia is wide and seemingly unrelated. However, upon closer examination, you'll realize it all comes back to 7.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Release date: Dec 18, 2010
• ISBN: 9781440511479

Book preview

Acknowledgments

My first book, 7: The Magical, Amazing and Popular Number Seven, was a comprehensive study exploring the strong influence of the number 7 in sports, religion and pop culture. I am proud to partner with Adams Media in presenting an intriguing salute to 7 that demonstrates why the number 7 exerts such a strong pull on the human psyche.

I express deep gratitude to Brendan O'Neill, my talented editor at Adams Media, whose creative input helped shape this spectacular, sevenly tribute, as well as the seven talented artists who created the remarkable imagery for this book. Erin Alexander, Colleen Cunningham, Jessica Faria, Elisabeth Lariviere, Sylvia McArdle, Frank Rivera, and Ashley Vierra created illustrations that exquisitely express the power of 7. And thanks to Karen Cooper, Michelle Kelly, Matt Leblanc, Paula Munier, Stephanie Bernardo, Meredith O'Hayre, and the rest of the gifted team at Adams Media who helped bring this project to life.

Special thanks to Michael Larsen of Larsen-Pomada Literary Agency.

My appreciation extends across the seven seas, for the ideas and observations of friends and fellow fans of 7 in Italy, Sweden, Australia, and America. They include Gianluca Colavecchi, Axel Stigmar, Anton Olsson, Kyleigh Pitcher, Jeff March, Marti Childs, Elisa Sette, Yvonne Craig, John Elway, Chris Redman, Anthony Kennedy Shriver, 7-Eleven CEO Joe DePinto, Margaret Chabris and Samantha Kilsdonk.

Seven cheers to my friend and fellow septaphile, Jackie Leo, former editor of Reader's Digest, for her contributions to the world of 7 through her fascinating book Seven, which explains how a seven-faceted approach can enrich quality of life.

I'm delighted you've decided to begin your journey of discovery about the mystifying, fascinating — and undeniable — power of seven.

Seventfully yours,

David Eastis

Introduction

The Arabic system of numerals that Western cultures use consists of 10 digits. Among them, none exerts a force as mystical or a presence as strong as the number 7. In school, we learn that our planet has 7 continents and a rainbow has 7 colors. Most people know about the 7 dwarfs and the 7 wonders of the world. But what else has a connection to the wonderful number?

Look around you — the number 7 emerges everywhere, in obvious as well as in many hidden, mysterious ways. You know that a week has 7 days, but did you know that each relates to 1 of 7 gods? What about the fact that the entire musical scale consists of only 7 notes? Or that most ladybugs have 7 spots on their wings? There is more to the number 7 than meets the eye.

The simple digit expressed with one rightward and