It all started in winter. Tadwell was cold, which naturally got him thinking about a Brass Monkey. A Brass Monkey was used on Naval Ships to hold cannonballs on deck. Since brass didn’t rust it was perfect for an outdoor stack of..... CANNON BALLS !!!!

So...... if one is going to stack cannon balls in a Brass Monkey that is triangular like a pool ball rack, how many would he need to create a complete stack if, say, the base of the Brass Monkey held 5 cannonballs on each side? Well, he could simply make a stack and count them, but there oughta be a way to calculate the number of cannon balls needed for a stack if each of the three sides of the Brass Monkey had “N” cannon balls on each side. It sounded easy, and if the Brass Monkey had four sides like a pyramid it would be.  But the three sided prism shape was a little more complicated. So, after a dozen sheets of paper, three erasers, and four pencils here it is... For a prism-shaped Brass Monkey with “N” number of cannon balls on each side the total number of cannon balls (TCB) necessary to make a complete stack is... TCB   = N*(N+1)*(N+2)       6

So........ If you ever wake up one morning and find yourself in the Navy AND that you are the Ordnance Officer.... AND if the Skipper orders you to stack cannon balls in a prism-shaped Brass Monkey on the deck of your Destroyer...  You can easily calculate just how many cannon balls you need to requisition.