Am 10.12.2010 14:39, schrieb Invisible:

> As some of you may recall, I went to a school for stupid people. Perhaps
> unsurprisingly, our "maths lessons" consisted *only* of filling out
> countless billions of long-division sheets.
>
> I mean, seriously. Knowing how to add, subtract, multiply and divide
> (not to mention *estimate*!) is important. But dividing 6-digit numbers
> giving an exact result and a remainder? When the **** am I *ever* likely
> to need to do /that/? And *if* I do, I'll use a calculator. Obviously.
>
> I understand that people need to know how to do division. I have no idea
> why they need to practise double-sized sheets with 40 quotients per side
> featuring 6-figure numbers. Hell, even NASA used a slide rule instead of
> pencil and paper! WTF?

Hollywood lied to you about the moment in the Apollo 13 mission when the 
astronauts asked the ground grew to double-check their maths: They did 
/not/ use slide rules in that situation, but indeed pen & paper, because 
slide rules don't help with simple addition of numbers.

As for divisions, AFAIK slide rules weren't used back then except for 
quick estimates. Precise calculations would either be done by a single 
computer requiring huge amounts of electricity, or by a room full of 
computers requiring huge amounts of coffee.

Back then, computer was an actual job, requiring highly trained people. 
After division, they would have learned how to interpolate using 
logarithmic and trigonometric tables and stuff.

I'd also say it was good for our generation to know how to add, 
subtract, multiply and divide without a pocket calculator, because you'd 
probably not carry one around with you all the time back then. Remember, 
we didn't have cell phones with pocket calculator apps in our pocketses 
wherever we went.

> That's actually kinda shocking, when you think about it. It's like
> saying that being an author is about good spelling and grammar. Oh,
> sure, that's *part of* being a good author. A pretty friggin' /tiny/
> part, though. JKR didn't get to where she is today by using punctuation
> correctly. She got there by convincing Warner Brothers to make her books
> into big-budget films. Oh, wait...

Not really. The books were amazingly popular before the movies. I'm 
pretty sure JKR didn't have to beg - if anyone did any begging, it was 
most likely Warner Brothers.

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