DR. AITKEN’S FEAT

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18257, 28 November 1933, Page 9

DR. AITKEN’S FEAT

LIGHTNING CALCULATOR FAMOUS FRENCHMAN OUTDONE Dr. A. C. Aitkcn, of Dunedon, 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 he the; greatest lightning calculator in the world. With the mathematical accuracy of his profession, he had

subjected l)r. Aitlcen to certain tests, and here are some of the feats of concentration anil memory that Dr. Aitken performed. He squared a three figure number in six seconds. He squared an eight figure number in one minute. Ho calculated the square root of a Jive figure number in 12 seconds. Tie factorised numbers of three and four figures in about three seconds. Last century, said Dr. Comric, 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. _____