An Elementary and Perhaps Useful Cheat Sheet for Names of Big Numbers

JF Ptak Science Books

I thought to include this little cheat sheet for the names of large numbers—I didn't know the name for some big number, and had to go and find it. Here's a bunch that I cobbled quickly together to serve as a recipe should you ever need a big-number-name and not know it.  I've only used the modern American and British versions of these names, and I've avoided numbers that just won't work for me here (as I'm just looking for simple stuff) like

(~ googolplex^{1,941,887,670,000}), (years),  which is the "scale of an estimated Poincaré recurrence time for the quantum state of a hypothetical box containing a black hole with the estimated mass of the entire universe, observable or not, assuming a certain inflationary model with an inflation whose mass is 10⁻⁶ Planck masses."  so says University of Albert physicist Donald Page, quantum cosmologist and Stephen Hawking co-author. 

A googol is already a big number at 1x10¹⁰⁰; a googolplex is terrifically larger, being 10^googol,  or. 10(10¹⁰⁰).

I've left out almost everything, actually, including the beautiful numbers from ancient India, including the sublimely-named "untold" as exactly 10^10*2122  appearing in Bodhisattva's maths in the Avataṃsaka Sūtra..

Hindu theology incorporates spectacular leaps of time, numbers which jump geometrically, reaching ever greater heights, describing a small part of a small bit of teh beginning of the Cycle of Brahma.  (See far below.)

I'll save the suspense—the largest number identified here is 1x10^3003, which is a millinillion, and it looks like this:
100.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.00 0.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000. 000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.00 0.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000. 000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.00 0.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000. 000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.00 0.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000. 000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.00 0.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000. 000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.00 0.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000. 000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.00 0.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000. 000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.00 0.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000. 000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.00 0.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000. 000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.00 0.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000. 000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.00 0.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000. 000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.00 0.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000. 000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.00 0.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000. 000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.00 0.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000. 000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.00 0.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000. 000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.00 0.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000. 000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.00 0.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000. 000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.00 0.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000. 000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.00 0.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000. 000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.00 0.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000. 000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.00 0.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000. 000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.00 0.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000. 000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.00 0.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000. 000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.00 0.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.000.

000.000

 And the rest (I'm sorry to say that one cannot make columns in typepad posts):

10⁶ Million

10⁹ Billion

10¹² Trillion

10¹⁵ Quadrillion

10¹⁸ Quintillion

10²¹ Sextillion

10²⁴ Septillion

10²⁷ Octillion

10³⁰ Nonillion

10³³ Decillion

10³⁶ Undecillion

 

10³⁹ Duodecillion

10⁴² Tredecillion

10⁴⁵ Quattuordecillion

10⁴⁸ Quindecillion

10⁵¹ Sexdecillion

10⁵⁴ Septendecillion

10⁵⁷ Octodecillion

10⁶⁰ Novemdecillion

10⁶³ Vigintillion

10⁶⁶ Unvigintillion

10⁶⁹ Duovigintillion T

10⁷² Tresvigintillion

10⁷⁵ Quattuorvigintillion

10⁷⁸ Quinquavigintillion

10⁸¹ Sesvigintillion

10⁸⁴ Septemvigintillion

10⁸⁷ Octovigintillion

10⁹⁰ Novemvigintillion

10⁹³ Trigintillion

10⁹⁶ Untrigintillion

10⁹⁹ Duotrigintillion

10¹⁰² Trestrigintillion

10¹⁰⁵ Quattuortrigintillion

10¹⁰⁸ Quinquatrigintillion

10¹¹¹ Sestrigintillion

10¹¹⁴ Septentrigintillion

10¹¹⁷ Octotrigintillion

10¹²⁰ Noventrigintillion

10¹²³ Quadragintillion

10¹⁵³ Quinquagintillion

10¹⁸³ Sexagintillion

10²¹³ Septuagintillion

10²⁴³ Octogintillion

10²⁷³ Nonagintillion

10³⁰³ Centillion

10³⁰⁶ Uncentillion

10³⁰⁹ Duocentillion

10³¹² Trescentillion

10³³³ Decicentillion

10³³⁶ Undecicentillion

10³⁶³ Viginticentillion

10³⁶⁶ Unviginticentillion

10³⁹³ Trigintacentillion

10⁴²³ Quadragintacentillion

10⁴⁵³ Quinquagintacentillion

10⁴⁸³ Sexagintacentillion

10⁵¹³ Septuagintacentillion

10⁵⁴³ Octogintacentillion

10⁵⁷³ Nonagintacentillion

10⁶⁰³ Ducentillion

10⁹⁰³ Trecentillion

10¹²⁰³ Quadringentillion

10¹⁵⁰³ Quingentillion

10¹⁸⁰³ Sescentillion

10²¹⁰³ Septingentillion

10²⁷⁰³ Nongentillion

10³⁰⁰³ Millinillion

The Hindu cosmological time cycles are described in verses 11–23 of Chapter 1, Surya Siddhanta:^[1]

(Verse 11). That which begins with respirations (prāna) is called real; that which begins with atoms (truti) is unreal. Six respirations make a vinādi, sixty of these a nādi.

(12). And sixty nādis make a sidereal day and night. Of thirty of these sidereal days is composed a month; a civil month (sāvana) consists of as many sunrises.

(13). A lunar month, of as many lunar days (tithi); a solar (sāura) month is determined by the entrance of the Sun into a sign of the zodiac; twelve months make a year. This is called a day of the devas or demi-gods.

(14). The day and night of the devas and of the asuras are mutually opposed to one another. Six times sixty of them are a year of the devas, and likewise of the asuras.

(15). Twelve thousand of these divine years are denominated a chaturyuga (chatur=Four; yuga=Ages); of ten thousand times four hundred and thirty-two solar years.

(16) The difference of the krtayuga and the other yugas, as measured by the difference in the number of the feet of Dharma in each, is as follows :

(17). The tenth part of a chaturyuga, multiplied successively by four, three, two, and one, gives the length of the krta and the other yugas: the sixth part of each belongs to its dawn and twilight.

(18). One and seventy chaturyugas make a manvantara (Patriarchate of one Manu); at its end is a twilight which has the number of years of a krtayuga, and which is a pralaya (catastrophic end of creation).

(19). In a kalpa (æon) are reckoned fourteen such Manus with their respective twilights; at the commencement of the kalpa is a fifteenth dawn, having the length of a krtayuga.

(20). The kalpa, thus composed of a thousand chaturyugas, and which brings about the destruction of all that exists, is a day of Brahma; his night is of the same length.

(21). His extreme age is a hundred, according to this valuation of a day and a night. The half of his life is past; of the remainder, this is the first kalpa.

(22). And of this kalpa, six Manus are past, with their respective twilights; and of the Patriarch Manu son of Vivasvant, twenty-seven chaturyugas are past;

(23). Of the present, the twenty-eighth chaturyuga, the krtayuga is past; from this point,reckoning up the time, one should compute together the whole number