DR. AITKEN'S FEATS AS CALCULATOR

Press, Volume LXIX, Issue 21020, 23 November 1933, Page 10

DR. AITKEN'S FEATS AS CALCULATOR

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 New Zealand graduates in London last month to be 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 Office, 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 were recorded. Dr. Aitken could accomplish the same feats as the noted Frenchman, in two-thirds of the time.