The Irish standard., 1900-02-17
A MATHEMATICAL PRODIGY
A Young Irish-American Named Arthur
F. Griffin.


session here, and all have new and won
dcrful discoveries to relate. But not
one of them can show the wonder that
the American Psychological society can
Arthur F. Griffin, mathematical
prodigy. Last Thursday the two Yale
savants of Observation-Disclosures An
drew Phillips and Professor w. H.
Becbe-put the boy through his PAGES
before a crowd of eager scientists; never
once did he fail, says the New York
World.
II am the oldest of five children"
said the youngstcr, who is 70, and a
native of Milford, Ind. My father is a
stone mason and poor man. learned
to count when l was years old, and
when | was 5 l could count up to 49,
ooo l knew the multiplication table tip
to 100, the cubes of all numbers up to
Ioo and the fourth powers up to 20. l
also knew most Of the multiplication
table up to 1000, but not all OF it.
"Thcrc is nothing mysterious about
the way I work. First, my knowledge
of these tables helps me; second, I can
see all the figures that are given me
mentally, just as if they were on a
blackboard three feet away.
81 have worked out lot of rules for
myself that make arithmetical opera
tons very simple. I can give you the
cube root of any number in four sec
onds and the square root in two Sec
onds. I can number fifteen numbers
by another fifteen and carry them in my
head"
"What is the cube root OF 1,367,631?'
asked the reporter suddenly.
"TFc cube root Of I,367,631?' re-
torted young Griffith, why, that's III
He was right. 1t had taken him just
three seconds to go through the com
piicated operation. Asked what 1884
times 47oS was, he gave the answer in
a twinllling.
The two Yale professors tried him in
addition, subtraction, multiplication and
division: fractions, factoring and deci-
mails. He could do all their problems
in second without pencil or paper. He
multiplied six numbers by five numbers
and gave the answer correctly in a jffy
Professor Phillips and Professor Beebe
marveled. He could add three columns
OF any length at the same time and sub
tract long numbers with consummate
ease. The mathematicans and psychol-
oglsts present pronounced the youth the
greatest aritllmetical wonder of the CEN
tury
Professor w, L. Bryan and T. H.
Lindley, OF the university OF Indiana,
have brought young Griffith East.
He is WONDER" said DR.. Bryan
I'VE discovered him last September
when he came to the university. His
people are very poor and lie is only
fairly bright, save in arithmetic. He
has no disease. His wonderful ability
lies in his prodigious memory and the
tremendous stock OF rules he has made
Tor himself for shortening ordinary ar
ithmctical operations.
"Hc has large number of short
methods that he has worked out for
himself. We find that he has worked
out the complicated binomial theorcm
Tor himscli-that great problem that Sir
Isaac Newton gave to the world. Yet
he has not done it by algebra, but by
arithmetic. He has also worked out a
number OF the rules for rapid calcula-
ton that can be found in the higher
text books, though he has never had
access to them Other rules are OF his
own discovery.
For instance, he knows the last two
digits of all squares and cubes by heart
The rest he gets in his mind by approx
imation. We have tested him with the
most delicate instruments to determine
his speed. For small operations he is
no quicker than you or l. But large
ones lie can do in his head while we are
putting the numbers down on paper
For instance, to multiply oo45 to the
fifth power, he docs it i'll exactly thir-
teen operations, while the ordinary
method requires 1856 different ones.
"Othcr arithmetical wonders have de
ciined to tell the source OF their powers,
or have been very hazy about them.
But Griffith is free to tell all about it,
He has a great many facts oil arithmetic
in his head, and many short ways OF
working. He expects to get out a book
on it shortly.
"He is not i'll college; in fact, he could
not pass the entrance examinations,
Neither docs he know anything OF
higher mathematics-lo the
calculus. geometry, algebra and the like.
It is only numbers he knows"
Young Griffith looks like the country
boy that he is, with an ungainly body
and big feet and hands. But he has a
fine head and face and keen eyes. He
hopes to turn his mathematical ability
to account.