Simon keeps coming back to this irresistible math problem about whether the infinite sum 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +… converges to negative 1/12. He was quite disappointed to hear Mathologer explain that it’s highly contraversial and that many mathematicians don’t believe in the negative 1/12 solution, at least not as long as they use the “equal” sign. Then, about a week later, on May 7 he suddenly told me he is now completely convinced that “Numberphile’s proof (that 1 + 2 +3 + 4 +… does converge to -1/12) breaks math!”
Geeks out of the box 