On Wednesday, 13 May 2015 12:53:00 UTC+1, Martin Bonner wrote:
On Saturday, 9 May 2015 19:52:02 UTC+1, Tim Watts wrote:
I also knew a bloke who could to add up in a shop to save his life as he
was putting products in his basket (we were students with limited dosh).

I suspect you mean "couldn't".

He got a first in pure maths and the uni asked him to stay on for a PhD
- but he declined as he'd worked out being an actuary paid lots

There was the mathematician who worked on the atomic bomb and complained at
how low he had sunk: "Not only do I have to work on equations with
*numbers* in them; the numbers have digits after the decimal point!"

In other words, pure mathematics and simple arithmetic are almost completely
unrelated.

Yes, there's also those that failed maths but can work out betting odds faster than most. Those dars commentatoirs can work out noit just what was scoired but how they can complete a game by calculating doubles and trebles and akll in their head.