Jenni Cioffi, age 9, of Canfield, Ohio, for her question:

WHAT IS A GOOGOL?

A googol is a very large number that makes millions and even billions seem like small potatoes. A googol is the number one following by 100 zeros.

A googolplex is an even larger number than the googol. It is 10 to the googol power, or 10 multiplied by itself a googol number of times.

The term googol was introduced by the American mathematician Edward Kasner. His 9 year old nephew, Kasner reports, was the first to use the word.

Kasner joined the faculty of Columbia University in 1900. His researches in many branches of mathematics include studies of relativity, horn angles, invariants, differential equations and polygonic functions. He was born in 1878 and lived until 1955.