Kissing by numbers: Party like it's n = 1999


Multiply your social success with some cunning calculations (Image: Vincent Villeret/Picturetank)


Want the formula for a perfect party? Meet the mathematicians who can solve your social problems, from who to kiss to bathroom etiquette


AS IF things haven't been strange enough, there is someone sitting, smiling, at the door of the gent's toilet. It's already been a weird enough party – weirdly happy, given that it is celebrating a divorce. The only people who look hassled and serious are the people moving through the crowd, clipboards in hand. Apparently, they are something to do with how we are all going to take our leave at the end of the night.


The smiling toilet attendant also has a clipboard, and now he is out of his seat. "Excuse me, sir," he says, brightly. He introduces himself and shows me the clipboard. Before I go in, Evangelos Kranakis wants ...


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