In an old fable, a commoner who had saved the king’s life was told he could ask the king for any just reward. Being a shrewd man, the commoner said, “A simple wish, sire. Place one grain of wheat on the first square of a chessboard, two grains on the second square, four grains on the third square, continuing until you have filled the board. This is all I seek.” Compute the total number of grains needed to do this to see why the request, seemingly simple, could not be granted. (A chessboard consists of 8 x 8 = 64 squares.)