- published: 08 Feb 2013
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The On-Line Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences (OEIS), also cited simply as Sloane's, is an online database of integer sequences, created and maintained by N. J. A. Sloane, a researcher at AT&T Labs. In October 2009, the intellectual property and hosting of the OEIS were transferred to the OEIS Foundation. OEIS records information on integer sequences of interest to both professional mathematicians and amateurs, and is widely cited. As of 20 November 2011 (2011 -11-20)[update] it contains over 200,000 sequences, making it the largest database of its kind.
Each entry contains the leading terms of the sequence, keywords, mathematical motivations, literature links, and more, including the option to generate a graph or play a musical representation of the sequence. The database is searchable by keyword and by subsequence.
Neil Sloane started collecting integer sequences as a graduate student in 1965 to support his work in combinatorics. The database was at first stored on punch cards. He published selections from the database in book form twice:
Take the time to make some sense of what you want to say
And cast your words away upon the waves
Sail them home with acquiesce on a ship of hope today
And as they land upon the shore tell them not to fear no more
Say it loud and sing it proud today
And then dance if you wanna dance
Please brother take a chance
You know they're gonna go
Which way they wanna go
All we know is that we don't know
How it's gonna be, please brother let it be
Life on the other hand, won't let us understand
We're all part of the masterplan
Say it loud and sing it proud today
I'm not saying right is wrong, it's up to us to make
The best of all the things that come our way
'Cause everything that's been has past
The answer's in the looking glass
There's four and twenty million doors
On life's endless corridor
Say it loud and sing it proud and today
Will dance if they wanna dance
Please brother take a chance
You know they're gonna go
Which way they wanna go
All we know is that we don't know
How it's gonna be, please brother let it be
Life on the other hand won't let you understand