
Zerah Colburn (mental calculator) - samclemens
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zerah_Colburn_(mental_calculator)
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jackhalford
"In September 1813 Colburn was being exhibited in Dublin. Colburn was pitted
against the 8-year-old William Rowan Hamilton in a mental arithmetic contest,
with Colburn emerging the clear victor. In reaction to his defeat, Hamilton
dedicated less time to studying languages and more time to studying
mathematics."

This is the same Hamilton that brought amazing contributions to physics and
algebra. I didn't realize Hamilton was also a child prodigy, although it isn't
surprising.

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peterburkimsher
"solve such problems as the number of seconds in 2,000 years" \- I'm not sure
if I can do that correctly, even with a calculator.

What about leap years and leap seconds?

[https://infiniteundo.com/post/25326999628/falsehoods-
program...](https://infiniteundo.com/post/25326999628/falsehoods-programmers-
believe-about-time)

~~~
lonelappde
Leap seconds didn't exist then.

Leap years (looking forward) run on a 400 year cycle, and 400 divides 2000

~~~
peterburkimsher
Which 2000-year period? Do you mean from the year 0 to 2000, or 20 to 2020, or
1600 to 3600?

The Gregorian calendar wasn't standardised until 1582.

