A person's Erdős–Bacon number is the sum of one's Erdős number—which measures the "collaborative distance" in authoring academic papers between that person and Hungarian mathematician Paul Erdős—and one's Bacon number—which represents the number of links, through roles in films, by which the person is separated from American actorKevin Bacon. The lower the number, the closer a person is to Erdős and Bacon, which reflects a small world phenomenon in academia and entertainment. To have a defined Erdős–Bacon number, it is necessary to have both appeared in a film and co-authored an academic paper, although this in and of itself is not sufficient.
Scientists
Mathematician Daniel Kleitman has an Erdős–Bacon number of 3, which is the lowest among scientists. He co-authored papers with Erdős and has a Bacon number of 2 via Minnie Driver in Good Will Hunting. Mathematician Doron Zeilberger has an Erdős–Bacon number of 5. Computer scientistTom Porter also has an Erdős–Bacon number of 5; 3 for Erdős in two ways and 2 for Bacon. Physicist Richard Feynman has an Erdős number of 3, and a Bacon number of 3, having appeared in the film Anti-Clock alongside Tony Tang. Geneticist Jonathan Pritchard appeared in the 1998 movieWithout Limits which gives him a Bacon number of 2. Pritchard has an Erdős number of 4 thus giving him an Erdős–Bacon number of 6. Geneticist Joseph Terwilliger has an Erdős–Bacon number of 6. His Bacon number of 3 comes from his appearance with Dennis Rodman in Dennis Rodman's Big Bang in Pyongyang, who appeared in Double Team with Mickey Rourke who appeared in Diner with Kevin Bacon. His Erdős number of 3 comes from publishing with Eric Lander who published with Daniel Kleitman who published with Erdös. Theoretical physicistStephen Hawking has an Erdős–Bacon number of 6: his Bacon number of 2 is lower than his Erdős number of 4.
Actors
Canadian actor Albert M. Chan has an Erdős–Bacon number of 4. He co-authored a peer-reviewed paper on Orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing, giving him an Erdős number of 3, and was cast alongside Kevin Bacon in Patriots Day, giving him a Bacon number of 1. Actor Misha Collins, who plays Castiel on Supernatural, has an Erdős–Bacon number of 6. He co-authored the paper, , with Kathryn Leonard, who co-authored a paper with Carola Wenk, who co-authored with Boris Aronov, who has an Erdős number of 1, giving Collins an Erdős number of 4. He appeared as "Tony" with Whoopi Goldberg in Girl, Interrupted, who appeared with Bacon in Destination Anywhere, giving him a Bacon number of 2. Danica McKellar, who played Winnie Cooper in The Wonder Years, has an Erdős–Bacon number of 6, having coauthored a mathematics paper published while an undergraduate at the University of California, Los Angeles. Her paper gives her an Erdős number of 4, and she has a Bacon number of 2, having worked with Margaret Easley. Israeli-American actress Natalie Portman has an Erdős–Bacon number of 7. She collaborated with Abigail A. Baird, who has a collaboration path leading to Joseph Gillis, who has an Erdős number of 1. Portman appeared in A Powerful Noise Live with Sarah Michelle Gellar, who appeared in The Air I Breathe with Bacon, giving Portman a Bacon number of 2 and an Erdős number of 5. British actorColin Firth has an Erdős–Bacon number of 7. Firth is credited as co-author of a neuroscience paper, "Political Orientations Are Correlated with Brain Structure in Young Adults", after he suggested on BBC Radio 4 that such a study could be done. Another author of that paper, Geraint Rees, has an Erdős number of 5, which gives Firth an Erdős number of 6. Firth's Bacon number of 1 is due to his appearance in Where the Truth Lies. Kristen Stewart has an Erdős–Bacon number of 7; she is credited as a co-author on an artificial intelligence paper that was written after a technique was used for her short filmCome Swim, giving her an Erdős number of 5, and she co-starred with Michael Sheen in Twilight, who co-starred with Bacon in Frost/Nixon, giving her a Bacon number of 2.
