73 is a base-2 palindrome: \(1001001_2\). Write it backwards and you have \(1001001_2\).
73 is a base-8 palindrome: \(111_8\). Write it backwards and you have \(111_8\). This is its base-2 representation with the zeros removed.
73 is the 21st prime number. Its mirror, 37, is the 12th, and its mirror, 21, is the product of \(7 × 3\). (See The Best Number below.)
In English, it is the smallest natural number with twelve letters in its spelled out name: seventy-three.
The Best Number
From the The Big Bang Theory (TV Series) episode “The Alien Parasite Hypothesis” (December 9, 2010).1
Sheldon Cooper: What is the best number? By the way, there’s only one correct answer.
Raj Koothrappali: Five million, three hundred eighteen thousand and eight?
Sheldon Cooper: Wrong. The best number is 73. You’re probably wondering why.
Howard Wolowitz: No.
Raj Koothrappali: We’re good.
Sheldon Cooper: 73 is the 21st prime number. Its mirror, 37, is the 12th, and its mirror, 21, is the product of multiplying—hang on to your hats—seven and three. Heh? Heh? Did I lie?
Leonard Hofstadter: We get it. 73 is the Chuck Norris of numbers.
Sheldon Cooper: Chuck Norris wishes. In binary, 73 is a palindrome: 1001001, which backwards is 1001001. Exactly the same. All Chuck Norris backwards gets you is “sirron kcuhc”.
Raj Koothrappali: Just for the record, when you enter 5,318,008 in a calculator, upside down, it spells “boobies”.
Footnotes
- “Quotes” from episode “The Alien Parasite Hypothesis”, The Big Bang Theory (TV Series). IMDb.com. <https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1632225/quotes/>