Comments on: Introducing the “Book” http://www.starchamber.com/2007/04/introducing-the-book.html Ned Gulley's Blog. Resident buzzwords: synthetic biology, ambient displays, swarm robotics, wise crowds. Tue, 02 Dec 2008 12:21:37 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.5 By: JMike http://www.starchamber.com/2007/04/introducing-the-book.html#comment-8010 JMike Thu, 26 Apr 2007 15:58:55 +0000 http://www.starchamber.com/2007/04/introducing-the-book.html#comment-8010 That's the one. I guess my version of that story got filtered through a few layers of "Foundation" on its way through my brain :) That’s the one. I guess my version of that story got filtered through a few layers of “Foundation” on its way through my brain :)

]]> By: Ned http://www.starchamber.com/2007/04/introducing-the-book.html#comment-7008 Ned Fri, 13 Apr 2007 17:37:42 +0000 http://www.starchamber.com/2007/04/introducing-the-book.html#comment-7008 By a remarkable coincidence, I was thinking of that exact same short story, and nearly included it in my post. I believe the story you're thinking of is Asimov's <a href="http://www.themathlab.com/writings/short%20stories/feeling.htm" rel="nofollow">The Feeling of Power</a>. <em> Five minutes later Shuman said, "Two point zero seven nine six two three." Loesser checked it. "Well, now, that's amazing. Multiplication didn't impress me too much because it involved integers after all, and I thought trick manipulation might do it. But decimals..." </em> By a remarkable coincidence, I was thinking of that exact same short story, and nearly included it in my post. I believe the story you’re thinking of is Asimov’s The Feeling of Power.


Five minutes later Shuman said, “Two point zero seven nine six two three.”

Loesser checked it. “Well, now, that’s amazing. Multiplication didn’t impress me too much because it involved integers after all, and I thought trick manipulation might do it. But decimals…”

]]> By: JMike http://www.starchamber.com/2007/04/introducing-the-book.html#comment-7005 JMike Fri, 13 Apr 2007 16:44:43 +0000 http://www.starchamber.com/2007/04/introducing-the-book.html#comment-7005 I remember reading something, when I was a teenager, that may have been written by Isaac Asimov but I won't swear to that. The pilots in some interstellar (navy? air force? why do interstellar military forces always adopt naval traditions rather than air force traditions?) OK I'll call it an interstellar navy, were shown to be becoming ever more helpless when their on-board computers went down. Someone uncovered arcane literature detailing how one could write numbers in arcane ways to perform arithmetic operations. Skeptics believed it was all an accident or a trick, but the pilots became better able to handle computer failures after that. --JMike I remember reading something, when I was a teenager, that may have been written by Isaac Asimov but I won’t swear to that. The pilots in some interstellar (navy? air force? why do interstellar military forces always adopt naval traditions rather than air force traditions?) OK I’ll call it an interstellar navy, were shown to be becoming ever more helpless when their on-board computers went down. Someone uncovered arcane literature detailing how one could write numbers in arcane ways to perform arithmetic operations. Skeptics believed it was all an accident or a trick, but the pilots became better able to handle computer failures after that.

–JMike

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