A CALCULATOR
I>R AITKEN’S EEATS
FAMOUS FRENCHMAN OUTDONE.
Dr A. C. Aitken, of Dunedin, now assistant professor of mathematics at the University of Edinburgh, was declared at the annual dinner of Now Zealand graduates in London last month to he the greatest lightning calculator in the world. Speaking at the dinner, Dr L. J. Comrie, the famous statistician, and Superintendent of the British Nautical Almanac Officer, proclaimed his fellow-New Zealander to be the greatest lightning calculator in the world. With the mathematical accuracy of his profession, he had subjected Dr Aitken to certain tests, and here are some of the feats of concentration and memory that Dr Aitken performed. He squared a three figure number in six seconds. He squared an eight figure number in one minute. He calculated the square root of a five figure number in 12 seconds. He factorised numbers of three and four figures in about three seconds. Last century, said Dr Comrie, a lightning calculator appeared in France and his exploits and times ivere recorded. Dr Aitken could accomplish the same, feats as the noted Frenchman, in two-thirds of til© time.
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Hokitika Guardian, 24 November 1933, Page 7
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186A CALCULATOR Hokitika Guardian, 24 November 1933, Page 7
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