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HOW
AND .
WHY
a{ 1u!RA B~ o/-
I
THE HOW AND WHY WONDER BOOK OF
l
I
1+ 1= l
Edited under the supervision of
Dr. Paul E. Blackwood, Specialist for Elementary Science
U. S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare, Washington, D. C.
- Text and illustrations approved by
Oakes A. White, Brooklyn Chi ldren's Museum, Brooklyn, New York
Paul E. Blackwood
Specialist for Elementary Science
U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare
Washington, D. C.
II
I: Contents
Page Page
When you opened this book, you You already know many of them. Just
started on a trip through the world of read them - you do not need to memo-
mathematics. In all its long history, rize them. Refer back to these pages
mathematics has never been so exciting whenever you come · to a symbol or
as it is today. Revolutionary discoveries word that is unfamiliar. You will soon
and remarkable changes are being find that you don't have to look back
made more rapidly than ever before. very often. Although the language of
mathematics may be unfamiliar, it is
How do mathematicians communicate? simple to understand.
You would miss much of the enjoy-
What is a googol?
ment of traveling through any new land
unless you knew enough of the lan- If you were walking along the street
guage to understand what was going . and found a piece of paper on which
on. Communicating mathematical ide~s was written:
was once a problem even among mathe- googol < oo
maticians, but they solved this by de- would you know that it is mathematical
veloping a special .language. The next shorthand? The idea of using short-
few pages will tell you the meanings of hand or symbols in place of words is
the signs, symbols and words which you very old and is widely used. More than
need to know to enjoy this book fully. 5,000 years ago, the ancient Egyptians
4
used symbols to stand for words.
Stenographers do it today, although, of
course, the symbols are entirely differ-
ent. Mathematical shorthand is a short
and exact way of writing mathematical
instructions and quantities.
What does "googol < oo " mean?
Translated into everyday English, it
reads : a googol is smaller than infinity.
The little v turned on its side means
is smaller than . Whatever is on the left
is smaller than whatever is on the right.
The figure 8, on its side, is the symbol
for infinity; that is, a number greater
than any we can write, speak or think.
A googol can be written as 10000-
000000000000000000000000000000-
Mathematics is an essential part of our cultural her-
000000000000000000000000000000-
itage and it has played a vital role in man's history.
000000000000000000000000000000- Men had to learn mathematics· to trade, count·, sail,
000000. It is 1 followed by 100 zeros. fly, build and to send a space satellite into orbit.
5
It is a number so large that it exceeds comes from the Arabic al-jabr, which
the number of raindrops that would fall means the reuniting of broken parts or
on New York, Los Angeles and Chi- simplification. Without it, much of our
cago in more than a century. Yet, it is progress would not be possible. Algebra
smaller than infinity. is like a tunnel cut through a mountain
Signs and symbols are only one por- - a short cut or the n;iost practical
tion of the language of mathematics. route.
Definition of basic terms is another. One of the ways in which it differs
Together they make up a universal lan- from arithmetic is that in algebra we
guage. In this way, a scientist or mathe- use numbers and letters. In algebra, we
matician writing in France or Russia can say that a case of 50 apples = a.
can communicate precisely with his If a man has 10 cases, w'e write 1Oa.
counterpart in the United States or Note that we omit the multiplication
Great Britain. Googol < oo has the sign between letters and numbers. At
same meaning to a Canadian as to a all times the letters represent numbers.
Norwegian. If we know the quantity, we generally
use a, b, c, etc. If the quantity is not
What is a prime number?
known, we usually use x, y or z. Alge-
Numbers are the basic tools of bra helps us find the value of unknown
mathematics. If we multiply two or quantities by using known quantities.
more numbers, we get a new number. Another basic difference between al-
For example, 2 X 7 X 11 X 13 = gebra and arithmetic is the number of
2,002. The numbers 2, 7, 11 and 13, fundamental processes we use. In arith-
which we multiplied together, are called metic, we use addition, multiplication,
factors of 2,002. However, not every subtraction and division. In algebra, we
number has factors which are whole use these four but also exponents and
numbers. Let us take 13. The only num- roots.
bers, or factors, we can multiply to get Furthermore, in arithmetic, we usu-
13 are 1 and 13. If a number cannot be ally work only with numbers greater
divided, or factored, by any numbers than zero, whereas in algebra, we use
other than itself and 1, that number is numbers (or letters that stand for num-
called a prime number. How about 11 bers) that are greater or smaller than
and 37? Both of these are prime num- zero. The numbers that are greater than
bers. Is 9 a prime number? No, because zero are called positive numbers. Those
it can be factored into 3 X 3 as well as that are smaller than zero are called
9 x 1. negative numbers; they are written with
a minus sign in front of them as : -x
How does algebra differ from arithmetic? or -43b.
It has been said that the language of
science is mathematics and the gram-
mar of mathematics is algebra. Algebra
6
=a
What is plane geometry? A curved line is
Plane geometry is a study of the ("-.-/ always changing
world around us. It is a Greek word direction.
which means the measure of land. With- Parallel lines are
out it our buildings would be uneven, straight lines that
our walls would not be perfectly up- never meet no mat-
right, we would be unable to navigate ter how far they are
through the air or on the seas. Once extended.
you are familiar with the basic language Angles are formed by two straight
of geometry, you will see how easily lines starting from the same point. Each
everything falls into place. line is called a side of the angle. The
Let us start with point at which the sides join is called
a point. It indicates the vertex of the angle.
a position in space. One-fourth of a
It does not have circle forms a right
width, thickness or angle. It is :IA of
length. 360°, or 90°.
A point in motion An acute angle is
produces a line, of any angle smaller
which there are sev- - - - - - ' than a right angle
eral kinds: or 90°.
A horizontal line is level with the An obtuse angle
surfa'ce of water at rest. is greater than 90 °,
but is smaller than
180°.
A surface is a line in motion. It has
both length and width but no depth or
thickne.ss. A flat surface, like a desk
top, is called a plane surface.
A vertical line
runs up and down
and is at right angles
or perpendicular to
a horizontal line.
What is a polygon?
An oblique line is neither horizontal
nor vertical. One group of plane surfaces is called
polygons. All their sides are straight
lines. If all the sides are equal, the fig-
ure is then called a regular polygon.
7
The lowest number of sides which can
make a polygon is three. This is a tri-
angle. There are two basic principles
which mathematicians have found that
apply to all triangles:
The sum of all three angles of a tri-
RIGHT ANGLE TRIANGLE angle equals 180°. ~
The length of the side varies accord-
ing to the size of the angle opposite it.
The longest side is opposite the largest
angle.
Basically, there are six kinds of tri-
angles:
lSOSCELES TRIANGLE A right angle triangle has one right
or 90 ° angle. The longest side is oppo-
site this angle.
An isosceles triangle has two equal
sides. The angles opposite these sides
are also equal.
An acute triangle has all acute an-
ACUTE TRIANGLE
gles; that is, each angle is less than 90 °.
A scalene triangle hfis three sides of
different lengths.
An obtuse triangle has one angle that
is greater than 90 °.
· An equilateral triangle has three
equal sides and three equal angles.
OBTUSE TRIANGLE
8
What are quadrilaterals?
DODECAGON
TRAPEZOID
9
What is a circle?
Polyhedrons are solids with length,
As the number of sides increases and width and thickness. Each surface or
approaches infinity, the polygon takes face is a polygon. There are only five
on a new shape. It becomes a circle. A regular polyhedrons:
circle is a curved line, every point on
which is the same distance from the
~
center. Every circle has 360°.
The circumference is the outside
boundary.
HEXAHEDRON
A radius is a straight line from the TETRAHEDRON ~~-..l,..o"7
10
Mathematical Signs, Symbols and Definitions
+ Plus: sign of addition 3 + 4 Pi: used to calculate the
Minus: sign of subtraction circumference and area of
4-2 a circle; it equals 3.14159
X or • Multiplication sign: 4 X 2 Foot: used when measur-
or 4 • 2 ing distance
II
Division sign: 8 + 2 Inch: used when measuring
Equals: 2 + 3 . .:___ 9 - 4 distance
Not equal to: 3 + 4=1=4-2 Minute: used to measure
> Greater than: 8 > 4 or 8 is parts of a degree; there are
greater than 4 60' in 1°
< Less than: 4 < 8 or 4 is less II
11
What is the language of fractions?
6
Proper fraction: numerator is smaller than denominator.
7
13
Improper fraction: numerator is larger than denominator.
4
., r- Radical indicates the root of for the fourth root of 256, or a number
V a number. It is usually used multiplied by itself four times to equal
to indicate square root. For example, 256. The answer is 4, since 4 X 4 X 4
-v1Lr- 2, since 2 X 2 = 4. A square x 4 = 256.
root of any number is another number, A small number written at the upper
which, when multiplied by itself, equals right-hand corner of another number is
that number. Here is another example: called an exponent. It is mathematical
VI6 = ? What number can we multiply shorthand to indicate the number of
by itself to give us 16? The answer is 4, times you have to multiply the number
since 4 X 4 = 16. by itself. For example: 22 = 2 X 2 or 4.
3, r--When the radical_ is used with If we wrote 34 we would mean 3 X 3
Y a small number m the upper X 3 X 3, or 3 multiplied by itself four
left, it stands for a smaller root. For times.
12
Early man knew "one" and "two." Some
primitives (left) used "many" to signify three.
saber-tooth tiger he had slain for his At first, primitive man used sign lan-
neighbor's three spears. Or maybe it guage to indicate the number he wanted
started when a twelve~year-old cave- to use. He may have pointed to the
man junior wanted to tell his brothers three spears in his neighbor's cave or
and sisters about the four hairy mam- to the slain saber-tooth tiger at his feet.
moths he had seen during the hunt. He may have used his fingers to indi~
13
When did man first use numerals?
cate the number. Two fingers raised on
one hand meant two whether he was The earliest written numbers so far
talking about two spears, two saber- . discovered were used in ancient Egypt
tooth tigers, two caves or two arrow- and Mesopotamia about 3000 B.c.
heads. These peopie, living many miles apart,
In everyday usage, we understand each independently developed a set of
that a number is a word or a symbol numerals. Their simple numerals, 1, 2,
which signifies a specific quantity and it 3, were copies of the cave man's sticks
is not necessary to define what we are or notches. It is interesting to note that
talking about. For example, three or 3 in many of the numeral systems found
can refer to three airplanes, three pens throughout the world, 1 was written as
or three schoolbooks. a single stroke (like a stick) or as .a
dot (like a pebble).
How did primitive man count?
EGYPTIAN BABYLONIAN Y
Some primitive men did not use num-
EARLY ROMAN CHINESE __.1
bers beyond two. Only a century ago,
when explorers visited the Hottentots EARLY HINDU ? MAYA •
in Central Africa, they found that these
people had only three numbers: one,
How did ancient man write?
two and many. If a Hottentot had three
or more cows, even if he had 79 or The ancient Egyptians wrote their
2,000, he would count that number as numerals on papyrus, a special paper
many. Most primitive men counted up made from reeds, painted them on pot-
to 10, or the total number of fingers on tery and carved them into the walls of
their hands. Others counted up to 20, their temples and pyramids. The Su-
or the number of fingers and toes.
When you count on your fingers, it
does not matter whether you start with
your thumb or little finger. Among
primitive people, there were set rules.
The Zuni Indians started to count with
:::m11111e>
the little finger of the left hand. The
Otomacs of South America began with
the thumb.
As men became more civilized, they
used sticks, pebbles and shells to write
numbers. They set three sticks or peb-
bles in a row to show that they meant
three. Others made notches in a stick
or tied knots in a rope as a means of
writing their numbers. Numbers on Egyptian vases often told their contents .
14
I =1 ,,-...-- =1 ·
-
111 =3
~
-
,.--I
=3
E-
=6
=5
=10
_L
J_
=60
n =9
-<,/
=80
-----~~
-+ =10
The Babylonians wrote their numbers on clay tablets . The Chinese wrote numbers with brush and ink on silk.
15
The Big Dipper revolves around the North Star. One complete revolution takes a day.
Early man found his way home at night by walking in the direction of the setting sun.
The rising and setting of the sun was one of his earliest ways of telling direction.
under the other, was the method used measure his property. If he sailed in his
by the Mayas to write large numbers. boat, he wanted to know how far from
This positioning meant multiply. Their shore he was. If he wanted to build a
symbol for 100 was ® or 5 - times temple or pyramid, he had to know how
20®. many stones he would need. When he
learned to calculate with his numerals,
Why are numerals important? he could measure time, distance, area
Every forward step in civilization and volume. By using numerals, he in-
brought additional uses for numerals. creased his knowledge and control of
If a man owned land, he wanted to the world around him.
17
,.
18
measurement based on the human
body. The main unit was a cubit, the
distance from the elbow to the finger
tips. Each cubit was divided into seven
palms, and each palm was divided into
four digits. According to modem mea-
surements, a cubit equals 18 to 22
inches.
19
How did they flnd the area?
20
Egyptian priest-mathematicians (left)
surveyed the land after the annual
Nile floods, dividing it into triangles .
21
lets dating back to 200 B.c. on which What is the sexigesimal system?
the symbol is used to designate the ab- Another Babylonian contribution to
sence of a figure. In their multiplica- our mathematical heritage, one which
tion tables, which contained all the has remained in use to this day in as-
numbers up to 60 multiplied by 60, tronomy and geometry, is the sexi-
they used ~ as a zero. Since the gesimal system, which is based on 60.
Babylonians traded with India, it is They used this system for their weights
believed that this concept is the basis and measures. The division of our year
for today's zero, which had its origins into 12 months, the hours into 60 min-
in India. It was the Moors and Saracens utes and the minutes into 60 seconds,
who brought the zero into Europe is attributed to the Babylonians. So is
about the ninth or tenth century A.D. our division of a circle into 360°.
The early Phoenician sailors were among the first to realize that the world was not flat, but curved.
A
;
How did the Phoenicians navigate? I
I
I
The Phoenician seamen, who trav- I
I
eled day after day, never found the
ends of the earth. In their ports they
could see the tops of the masts of ships I
/'
as they approached the harbor. Then I
/
they could see the sails and finally the I
I
entire boat as it came closer to land. I
23
we use the mathematical formula:
d = 89.443 V'hwhere d =distance to
horizon and h = height above the
earth's surface measured in miles. Let's
try a problem.
You're in a balloon flying 4 miles
above the earth. How far is the hori-
zon? We use the formula: 89.443 Y4.
The square root of 4 is 2 ( 2 X 2 = 4)
and our answer is 89.443 X 2 =
178.89 miles.
N
matics begins about 600 B.c. when Take a piece of string, 15 inches
Thales, one of the seven wise men of long, and attach a nail or fishing line
Greece, introduced the study of geom- sinker to one end. Tie the other end
etry into Greece. The Egyptians knew under the wood just at the right-hand
how to measure the height of a pyramid edge of the cardboard. You now have
by its shadow, but it was Thales who a measuring instrument.
formulated the basic rule and proved
it works in all cases. Demonstrating
that a rule is true under all conditions
is what mathematicians call proof.
25
divide the product by 10. To this, add This simple measuring instrument, like the surveyor's
theodolite, can help you measure the height of any
the height above the ground that the
object. Follow the directions in the text to see how.
instrument is held. For example, if the
plumb line cuts the cardboard at the 5
How was the earth's size first measured?
mark and you are 60 feet from the tree,
multiply 5 X 60 = 300. This is divided The Greek mathematician, Eratos-
by 10 so that you get 30. If the instru- thenes, who lived about 225 B.c., was
ment is 3 feet above the ground, then librarian of the great library at Alex-
the height of the tree is 33 feet. andria in Egypt. He is the first man
known to have measured the size of the
What is the Pythagorean Theorem?
earth. He applied mathematics to two
Pythagoras, who lived about 500 observations:
B.c., discovered a basic rule that ap- At Aswan, near the first cataract of
plies to all right-angle triangles, and the Nile, it was possible to see the re-
proved that it works in all cases, no flection of the sun in a deep well since
matter how big or small the triangle is. the sun was directly overhead and cast
The Pythagorean Theorem states that no shadows on a certain day of the year.
the square of the longest side equals the
sum of the squares of the shorter sides. Square of longest side= sum of squares of shorter ones.
In other words:
32+ 42 = 52
3X3+4X4=5X5
9 + 16=25
Many of the rules of Greek geometry
have come to us from the "Elements,"
which was written by Euclid about 300
B.c. In its translated form, this text-
book was used in many of our schools
until about fifty years{' go.
26 •
At the same time on the same day,
0
the sun cast a shadow of 71/z in Alex-
andria, some 500 miles to the north.
Eratosthenes was able to compute Cl)
Furthermore, Eratosthenes knew only 11, 143 miles off, since the moon
that a circle has 360°. He also knew is 238,857 miles from the earth.
0
face. Since 71/z goes into 360 (the num- Other Greeks explored the magic of
ber of degrees in a full circle) 48 times, numbers. When adding consecutive
he multiplied 48 by 500. He computed numbers, the students of Pythagoras
the circumference at 24,000 miles. found that they could make rules
With today's precision instruments, we about their totals. Consecutive num-
have calculated the earth's equatorial
circumference at 24,902.3786 miles. e
When did man learn the distance
to the moon?
-- ---
-- --- ----
----
eeeee
eeeee
eeee -----
eee eeee
-----
eeeee
From Roman to Arabic Numerals
At the height of their power, when Each finger stands for a number
they had conquered most of the then- from 6 to 10.
known world, the Romans were still not To multiply, put the tips of the two
able to master the art of simple arith- number fingers together. (In the illus-
metic. Those whose work involved tration, we are multiplying 8 by 8.)
mathematics used three methods of cal-
culation: reckoning on the fingers, the
abacus, and special tables prepared for
this purpose.
In one respect, the Romans had not
advanced far from the days of primitive
man, for they still used their fingers to
count. Finger counting continued in
use for hundreds of years after the de-
cline of Rome, as late as A.D. 1100 in
Europe.
30
~
j
.i '
j .• • ) •vi
unit (right) column. To add 5 to the
tens column, move all four lower beads
upward. Since you still need one more
.,
to make ten, and since the five or upper
31
The clumsy number systems used by small circle ( o) and finally evolved as
the Romans retarded the development the zero ( 0) as we now know it. It is
of mathematics. It was not until cen- interesting to note that the Hindu word
turies after the decline of Rome that a for zero means "empty."
new awakening occurred. The Hindus exhibited great skill in
mathematics and did complex problems
What was the greatest contribution with very large numbers. The Arabs,
of the Hindus? who traded with the Hindus, had mas-
The Hindu civilization, begun in the tered the Hindu numerical system by
valley of the Indus River in India, dates the latter part of the eighth century A.D.
back to the early days of Egypt and The Arabs, or Moslems, ruled the Near
Mesopotamia. Hindu mathematics was East, northern Africa and even Spain.
developed to serve astronomy and em- It was the Jewish physicians, trained in
phasized arithmetic. As in Egypt, this Moslem schools, as well as the traders,
knowledge was reserved for the select who started the flow of Hindu-Arabic
few, the priests. mathematics and numerals into Eu-
The greatest achievement of the rope. This knowledge increased greatly
Hindus, the one which has contributed during the Crusades, and by the begin-
most to the development of mathe- ning of the fifteenth century, Arabic
matics as a science, was the perfection numerals were widely used by scholars
of our Arabic numerals. Although the and merchants throughout Europe.
Babylonians used a zero as far back as It was this new mathematics -
2300 B.c., it is the Hindus whom we Arabic numerals and the rediscovery
credit with the origin of the zero in our of Greek geometry and algebra - that
numeral system. Their earliest symbol helped Europe leave the Dark Ages and
was a dot (.) and this later became a embark on the Age of Discovery.
In India, the Hindus used mathematics and passed their knowledge of numerals to the Arabs .
Yotcx xsxxx nxese auvid colho?
solve codes.
Let's take the message: Yotcx xsxxx written in a square with five columns
nxese auvid colho? You will notice that across and five rows down. We also
this message contains five words or know that it was written backwards in
groups of letters and that there are five its coded form.
letters in each group. This is our first If we take the coded message and
clue. Suppose we try to put the first write it backwards to fit the five-by-five
letters of each word together. We square shape, we would find:
would have: yxnac. Certainly that
does not mean anything. Neither would a n x
we find any meaning if we put the sec-
ond letters of each word together: u x s
osxuo. What would happen if we
wrote these groups backwards? We
v x t
would have: canxyouxso. We have
now found our clue!
This illustrates a square code. There i x
are 25 letters in the entire message. It
is made up of five words of five letters 0 d x x
each. That means that the message was
33
There is an x used between each 1 2 3 4 5
word and a double x at the end of the
message. We can now read the coded
message, which is: Can you solve this 1 a b c d e
code? A
2 f g h 1 J I
3 k 1 m n 0
34
ABC
ABC
DBC Look at the center column where
BCE D + 5 + 5 is used in the problem. We
ABC now know that 10 + D equals D and
ACDBC we carry 1. Therefore, we know that
1 + B + B = 5. The only number that
The problem is to find the number B can stand for is 2 since 1 + 2 +
ABC which has been squared. Here is 2 =5.
how to go about solving it: The problem is now solved: ABC=
Start with C which is the last digit of 125.
I
the number and its square. There are Here is another cryptarithm for you
\ to solve. The answer will be found
only four numbers, which, when multi-
1 plied by themselves, will have their last below, upside down.
i
I digit the same as the number. They are: DEF
I 0 (0 x 0=0),1 (1 x 1=1),5 (5 x DEF
5 = 25) and 6 (6 X 6 = 36) . FGF
I C cannot be equal to 0, for when
you multiply a number by zero, you get
DEFE
DDEGF
I zero, but in this problem we multiply
C by Band get E. Answer to cryptarithm:
Neither can C equal 6. Note in the ~zo11 =dDtraa
center column of the addition, we have ~o 1 = dtra ~ = d o =tr 1 =a
D + C + C = D. If C equals 6, it
would not be possible to add 6 + 6 + What is a magic square?
any number and have the sum equal
the missing number. Magic squares have intrigued people
C cannot be equal to 1, since C X for more than . 2,500 years. Actually,
ABC would equal ABC, but in this there is no magic in the square, for it
problem it equals DBC. Therefore, C is only an addition table in which the
must be equal to 5. numbers are arranged in a tricky way.
We also know the number of an- Draw a square divided into nine boxes
other letter: A . We see in the multipli- as shown in the illustration.
cation that A X ABC = ABC. There-
fore, A must equal 1.
We now have two digits: A = 1 and
C = 5. Write the problem over substi-
tuting the known numbers:
1B5
1B5
DBS
B5E
1B5
15DB5
Now, put in the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, You have now completed the first set
5, 6, 7, 8, 9, using each number only of numbers. A set of numbers is equal
once and putting only one number in to the number of boxes in any column
each box. The numbers have to bear- or row - in this case it is three. To
ranged so that no matter which way begin the next set, move down one box
you add them - down a column, and write the first number of the set, 4.
across a row or along either diagonal Repeat the same technique used with
(from one comer to the opposite cor- the first set. Move one box up and one
ner) - the sum is the same. box to the right. Now write the number
We know that the sum of all the 5 in that box. Again, move one box up
numbers from 1 through 9 is 45. If you and one to the right. Enter the number
divide this by 3, you will get 15. There- 6. You have now completed the second
fore, each set of three numbers has to set. To start the third set, go down one
equal 15. Try to solve the magic square box and write the number 7 and then
before you read the solution below. complete the set.
How can you make a magic square? How can you solve the price tag mystery?
Here is the solution to the magic Have you ever made a purchase and
square problem. You can use this found cryptic markings on the tag or
method to make a magic square of any box? Usually, they are letters, a secret
size so long as you have an odd number code, which tell the storekeeper the
of columns and rows. price or age of the product. There is
Begin by writing the number 1 in the really no mystery as each letter stands
center box in the top row. Lift your for a number. The merchant often se-
pencil lightly and move diagonally to lects a name or a word and assigns a
the right and up. You are now outside letter to each number.
the square. Therefore, continue down Harold Smith
the next column to the last row. Write 123456 7890
the number 2 in that box. Again move With this code, oh i m is translated
diagonally upward and to the right, and into 4.98 or $4.98. This may be the
again, you are outside the square. Move cost of the object to the storekeeper
across the row above to the last box in and he knows that he has to sell that
the square and write the number 3. item for more money in order to make
a profit. On the other hand, a package
may be coded: dharhdH - which
8 1 6 translated means 6. 2 3. 61 or June 23,
1961. This tells the merchant when he
bought the product. Note that capital
3 5 7 The first step in con- H decodes as 1; a small h decodes as a
structing a magic square period. This method of writing code is
is shown in red. The
second step is in gray. not new. Both the ancient Greeks and
4 9 2 The third is in white. Hebrews used letters to write numbers.
PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED
MEMORY BANK
PROGRAMMER
on
"memory '
bank"
"fast memory"
picks up data . Finally, the
electronic circuit sets out the
answer a typewriter
FAST MEMORY
--
on the programmer's desk.
37
payrolls for thousands of workers, and How does the computer work?
do countless other jobs in only a frac- In both the digital and analog com-
tion of the time required by men. puters, the operator punches the in-
structions (or commands as they are
What do digital and analog mean? called in computer language) and the
Basically, there are two types of com- numbers of the problems on special
puters: analog and digital. Digital re- tape or cards. When the tape or cards
fers to the familiar Arabic numerals are placed in the machine and the
which stand for definite quantities. power is turned on, the holes in the
Finding that the sum of 6 + 7 = 13, cards or tape allow tiny electric pulses
is a digital computation. The digits to travel through and mark the mag-
themselves have a meaning, but the netized drum or fast memory of the
units (whether they be chairs, rockets machine.
or miles) are not specified.
When we deal with analog, there is
a basic unit to which we always refer
back, like yards, miles or gallons. We
say we bought 3 yards of material, or
we walked V2 of a mile. The unit of . .. . . . ... .··· .....
.. ·.
reference is the yard or mile. The num- The computer's mag-
netized drum, known
bers 3 and V2 show how many of the as ''fast memory.''
units - or what parts of the unit - are
being considered.
There are many simple digital and The computer takes the information
analog computers which are familiar to on the drum, draws upon its memory
you. The office adding machine is a banks, and interprets all the data. It
digital computer. The fuel gage of an then performs the necessary calcula-
automobile is an analog computer. It tions and puts the results on magnetic
indicates what proportion or part of the tape. The tape is either fed to a special
tank is filled with gasoline. typewriter, which translates the electric
impulses into language, or operates a
ANALOG COMPUTER
special machine, which draws a chart
or graph.
38
3
0
0 0 0 0
l
0 0 0 0
51
2
0 0 0 0
3
0 0- 0 0
4
0 0 0 0
BINARY NUMBERS
5
0 0 0 0
6
0 0 0 0
The position or column in the binary system has a
specific value. For example, l 00 in binary notation
7
0 0 0 0
means that the l in the third column equals 4; the
O's stand for nothing. Thus, the l 00 binary n.o ta-
8
0 0 0 0
tion =the number 4. Here's another example: l 0110
in binary means that the fifth column equals 16, the
9
0 0 0 0
l in the third column equals 4 and the l in the second
column equals 2. That is 16 + + 4 2 or 22. There- Here is how our numbers (zero to ten) would look on
fore, tlie binary number, l 0110 equals 22. a single panel binary computer which has four lights.
39
our atmosphere faces resistance forces its axis, but it is also moving in an ellip-
similar to those met by a submarine tical orbit around the sun. It is neces-
plowing through the depths of the sary to compute the path of the rocket
ocean. The faster the rocket goes, the in three dimensions, taking into ac-
greater the resistance of the air. It has count the earth's movements, air resis-
long been known that this resistance tance and the earth's gravitational pull.
increases with the square of the veloc-
With the help of computers, mathematicians carefully
ity. This means that as the speed is
. plan the path of flight and the increases in speed.
doubled, the air resistance is multiplied
by four. It is now known that once the
rocket exceeds nine miles per minute,
the air resistance increases with the
cube of the velocity. In other words,
every time the speed doubles after the
rocket has reached nine miles a minute,
air resistance is multiplied by eight.
If the earth were standing still when
a rocket was fired, it would be a simple
problem to compute the path of the
rocket. However, the earth is constantly
in motion. Not only is it revolving on
40
/
3 SEC.~
2 SEC. ;Jlf"
:;t/f"
..
1 SEC.
41
2 What keeps a satellite in the sky?
The formula is s = 112 gt , where s is
the distance an object falls toward the The basic principle of gravity also
earth, t is the time, and g is the ac- affects the rocket that will launch a
celeration or increase in speed due to satellite and affects the satellite, too.
gravity, which is 32 feet per second per Using Newton's gravity formula, an
each second it falls. object falls 1 mile in 18 seconds. This
Apply this formula to a rocket fired information helps us to keep the satel-
from a launching pad ori top of a very lite in the sky.
high mountain. The diagram shows Let us skip the involved mathematics
how the rocket would fall, due to grav- n.ecessary to get the satellite up into the
ity, if it had no forward speed. It drops air one mile above the earth's surface.
16 feet in the first second, 64 feet in two As soon as it gets there, the satellite is
seconds, 144 feet in three seconds, etc. affected by two forces. One is its own
But the rocket also has a forward speed speed to carry it forward. The other is
or initial thrust. Therefore, as it moves the earth's gravity pulling it down.
forward in its original direction, the pull To make the calculation simple, sup-
of gravity acts upon the rocket so that it pose the forward speed of the satellite
travels in a curve and finally comes back is 1 mile per second. In the first 18 sec-
to earth. The curve made by a body in onds, the satellite will travel 18 miles
space is called a trajectory. along the horizon and will fall 1 mile
toward the earth. If the earth were flat,
1 SEC.~6 FT.
the satellite would hit the earth in 18
2SEC. ~FT. seconds, 1 mile from its launching pad.
ROCKET LAUNCHER Actually, the earth's surface is curved
4 SEC. .
5 SEC . 400 FT.
• 3 SEC.
256 FT.
Inertia and gravity combine / 400 FT.
to make the rocket travel
in a curve - its trajectory.
/ ' 144 FT.
64 FT.
42
~
I
I
I
I
I
HORIZON
I
I
•
As soon as a satellite is in orbit (top), it is af-
fected by two forces: inertia and gravity. The bal-
ance of these forces creates the satellite's path.
43
What Is a Graph?
Rene Descartes, a mathematician and figures. Graphs can show negative
who lived in France at the time that the and positive numbers, like profits and
Pilgrims came to America, was the first losses, or degrees above 1and below
to use a graph. It is a drawing which zero. Statisticians use graphs to convey
tells its story through lines, bars, circles a message in its simplest form.
ao I - l
I
I
700
6001
5001
400 '
1
t-
--l .
, I i - jI
200
100 I
f
0
r
I
ABCDEFGHI JkLM A B. C D E F G H I J K l M
SNOW
10%
RAIN
17%
SUNNY 400
40% U.S.A.
CLOUDY
33%
44
What Are Your Chances?
What is probability?
playing a hunch. There is no reason-
When you toss a coin into the air, it ing behind your guess. But statisticians
will land either heads or tails. If you put probability to work to take the
toss a penny, what are your chances guessing out of hunches. What would
that it will fall heads up? Suppose you happen if you tossed three coins into
tossed two pennies at one time. What the air at the same time. You would
are the chances of both falling heads find the following possible combina-
up? Are your chances the same in both tions:
cases?
If you flip a single penny, it will fall
COIN #1
either heads or tails. The mathemati-
cian would say that the probability of COIN #2
the penny landing heads up is 1/2 or
COIN #3
one-of-two. Or, you have one chance
out of two that it will fall heads.
On the other hand, if you flip two Orange stands for "heads"; yellow stands for "tails."
45
of chance as stated in Pascal's triangle:
2 You have 1Ji, or one-of-four, chances
3 3
to win both games.
You have %, or Vz, or one-of-two,
4 6 4
to win one and lose the other.
5 10 10 5
Finally, you have V<i, or one-of-four,
6 15 20 15 6
chances to lose both games.
7 21 35 35 21 7
If you want the possibilities for eight
8 28 56 70 56 28 8
games, refer to line 8 and you will find
9 36 84 126 126 84 36 9 1 that you have %56, or one-of-two hun-
10 45 120 210 252 210 120 45 10 dred fifty-six, chances to win all eight
games.
player who is just as good as you are, There is a very interesting number
what are your chances of winning both pattern in the Pascal triangle. Each
games? Look at line two (from the top) number is the sum of the two numbers
of the triangle. According to the laws immediately above it.
New Mathematics
The fastest growing and most radi- torn. It has been said that since all
cally changing of all the sciences today solids pierced by a hole look alike to a
is mathematics. It is the only science topologist, he is a mathematician who
in which most of the theories of 2,000 cannot tell the difference between an
years ago are still valid and in which automobile tire and a doughnut.
there is still room for new ideas and
new branches of mathematics. What is a Moebius strip?
Here is a sample of simple topology.
What is topology? Cut two pieces of paper about 1 inch
One of the most active branches of wide and 10 to 12 inches long. Draw a
mathematics today is topology, a form line down the center of each strip. Take
of geometry. It is a departure from the
Euclidean geometry of rigid lengths
J
(=--~--=-:::-]
and angles and shapes that never
change. Topology does not consider
size but only shape, and the shape can
be folded, stretched, shrunk, bent, dis-
torted in almost any way, but never
46
one of the strips of paper and join the
ends together with cellophane tape or
47
This answer involves topological
mathematics. It has been found from
experience that no matter how compli-
cated the map, no matter how many
countries it contains, and how the coun-
tries are situated, the map can be col-
ored by using only four separate colors.
However, no mathematician thus far
has been able to produce the mathe-
matical proof that this .is true.
With the Euclidean geometry of flat
surfaces, we could arrive at a situation
as shown in the diagram - all but one
of the lines connected. You can try
other possibilities yourself and see if
you can do it.
Using the mathematics of topology,
the solution to this problem - as de-
scribed in the diagram - is exceed-
ingly simple. We use a torus or dough-
nut surface, instead of a flat or plane
surface.
48
HOW AND WHY ·WONDER BOOKS
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authentic, ready-reference, basic library.
5001 DINOSAURS 5020 BALLET
5002 WEATHER 5021 CHEMISTRY
5003 ELECTRICITY 5022 HORSES
5004 ROCKS AND MINERALS 5023 EXP LORA TIO NS AND
5005 ROCKETS AND MISSILES DISCOVERIES
5006 STARS 5024 PRIMITIVE MAN
INSECTS 5025 NORTH AMERICA
5008 REPTILES AND AMPHIBIANS 5026 PLANETS AND
5009 BlRDS INTERPLANETARY TRAVEL
50l0 !:027 WILD ANIMALS
OUR EARTH
5011 !)028 SOUND
BEGINNING SCIENCE
5012 MACHINES 5029 LOST CITIES
5013 THE HUMAN BODY 5030 ANTS AND BEES
5014 SEA SHELLS 5031 WILD FLOWERS
5015 ATOMIC ENERGY 5032 DOGS
5016 THE MICROSCOPE 5033 PREHISTORIC MAMMALS
5017 THE CIVIL WAR 5034 SCIENCE EXPERIMENTS
5018 MATHEMATICS 5035 WORLD WAR II
501S FLIGHT 5036 FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE
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