On Wed, 29 Jun 2005 05:02:39 -0500, Prometheus
wrote:

I've got a calculator from 1996 laying around
somewhere that can solve just about any calculus problem by typing in
solve( and then the problem. Same for algebra, trig, or any other
branch of math you care to name. I don't imagine that they've gotten
less powerful over time.

Perhaps they aid in some, but calculators don't "solve the calculus
problems" I've seen. That's just it; they are an aid, not "the
answer." Solution of problems in calculus involves a pretty thorough
knowledge of calculus and all that precedes it, and most of that is
done with the calculator we're born with.

That
would indicate to me that they don't understand the math, they just
know how to operate a calculator.

That's what I mean.

All said and done, the calculator is a tremendous asset *after* an
understanding of basic principles of the subject it is supposed to
assist. Same with woodworking [thought I'd throw that in.] The tools
don't make the master woodworker, but good tools sure help. Lots of
people have much better tools than some superb craftsmen stuck with
less, but all they do is build stepstools. The calculator [ or CAD
program or whatever] is good in the right hands and next to useless in
the wrong ones, and really not all that necessary, as you pointed out.