On Wed, 13 May 2015 05:01:43 -0700, whisky-dave wrote:

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.

My mother left school at 14 and had minimal maths (if you can call it
that) tuition. She worked as a quite pressured cashier, and could work
out racing odds at lightning speed. Her mental arithmetic was very good
indeed.

I seem to have inherited that, and so does one of my sons. I am not good
at 'real' maths.