The Mystery of 47

The Mystery of 47, a 2015 Pomona College Magazine feature, names Joe Menosky, a Pomona graduate, as the Star Trek writer who introduced the number 47 into the franchise's scripts. Its strength is that as an institutional publication with access to its own alumni records and direct contact with Menosky's cohort, it is well placed to trace the connection between the college tradition and his later career. Its limit is that it is an alumni interest publication rather than independent entertainment journalism, though the specific factual connection it reports is corroborated by Menosky's own confirmed Pomona attendance.