comparing J to my 1st handheld calculator (HP45) c1973:
http://www.hpmuseum.org/hp45.htm
"Little is understood about the methods used by calculating
prodigies to perform their awesome feats. The method used by 10-
year-old Truman Henry Safford, in 1846 to calculate
365365365365365365^2 (as described by the Rev. H. W. Adams) shows
that difficult problems are difficult even for prodigies--"...he
flew around the room like a top, pulled his pantaloons over the
tops of his boots, bit his hands, rolled his eyes in their sockets,
sometimes smiling and talking and then seeming to be in agony,
until, in not more than a minute said he,
133,491,850,208,566,925,016,658,299,941,583,225!"
"Although your HP-45 might not be as much fun to watch, it makes
calculating faster and less arduous, because the operational stack
and the reverse "Polish" notation used by the HP-45 provide the
most efficient way known to computer science for evaluating
mathematical expressions."
And from a bit later in the introduction:
"Incidentally, no calculator available today (including ours) can
handle the problem given to our child prodigy. Isn't it comforting
to know that people can still do things machines can't?"
Truman Henry Safford
365365365365365365^2
133,491,850,208,566,925,016,658,299,941,583,225!
HP45
1.334918502e35
J
365365365365365365^2
1.33492e35
(365365365365365365^2)%1e30
133492
Still room for prodigies
Donna
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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