Monday, January 13, 2020

Computing Without a Computer


This is a repeat, but worth it.

I'm reading Isaac Asimov's Opus 100, which details his course through a writing career that changed the world of science fiction forever. In the chapter on Mathematics, he recounts a story called "The Feeling of Power" where a character is trying to explain to a space age military how he can navigate their ships without computers, which are at the time susceptible to enemy interference:

"Nine times seven, thought Shuman with deep satisfaction, is sixty-three, and I don't need a computer to tell me so. The computer is in my head." 
"Computing without a computer, said the President, is a contradiction in terms."

Post Script
Also from Asimov's Opus 100, on the topic of Words:
"New Jersey"
The state of New Jersey is named after the birthplace of George Carteret, who was given the territory by Charles II of England. He was born on the island of Jersey, the largest of the Channel Islands between England and France, and originally called "Caesar's Island" until barbarians garbled it into "Jersey".

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