GOOD AT FIGURES.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLII, Issue XLII, 17 October 1922, Page 7

GOOD AT FIGURES.

BABU'S MARVELLOUS MIND

If asked to square the number 1,817,947, most people would demand pencil, paper, logarithm tables, wet towels, complete silence, and solitude, and spend half-an-hour in frenzied calculation. " ! Not so the Babu Somesh Chandre j Bose, of Bengal, who did the sum in | his head in a very few minutes before a considerable audience at the Indian Students' Union and Hotel, London, recently. This was only one of the, astonishing feats that he performed at this formal demonstration of his extraordinary gifts. A fellow-countryman chalked on the blackboard two numbers of 40 digits each and Mr. Bose proceeded equably to multiply them mentally. .In less than 25 minutes spAt in silent meditation, Mr; Bose took up the chajk and began to write the answer. Not one of its 80 digits differed from the solution prepared infinite pains beforehand by the students who set the problem. Two dates were given by members »f the audience—April 20, 1900, and November 15, 1885. "The first day," said Mr.. Bose after a moment's consideration, "was a-, Friday.". - '■' ( "No," said the-.woman who had given the date, "it was a Sunday." The Babu reflected again. "It was a Friday," he repeated. "I cannot be wrong." : Reference to a perpetual calendar showed that Mr. Bose's claim was justified. He was equally infallible in dealing with other dates, and also found the square root of 141,734,630,849 without difficulty. How does he do it? marvelled his audience. Simply _ enough, he says himself. He visualises each figure in its place as clearly as if written down in black -and white, and claims to be able to recite the result of every problem' solved by him in the last twelve months. ?" ■