The exclamation point is of course the factorial symbol, not an expression of excitement about numbers.

The expression n! — “n factorial,” when said aloud — describes the product of multiplying all the integers from 1 to n.

The odds the cards would be in whatever order you wrote down are 1 in 52 factorial, which is 80658175170943878571660636856403766975289505440883277824000000000000.

John Nash, the world-renowned mathematician, died; Left us too early but in recognition, I’d Put age of death on his graveside memorial: 10 squared times 2, plus 6, less 5 factorial.

We incubated a natural diatom community from coastal New Zealand waters in a short-term incubation experiment using a factorial matrix of temperature and CO2, and measured effects on community structure.