Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1905-08-23
MINDS FOR FIGURES.
PPEcoCIoUs YOUTHS WHO WE'RE
MATHEMATICAL WIZARDS.
GEORGE PARKER BIDDER WAS THE
ONLY INFANT PRODIGY WHOSE
TALENTS BECAME USEFUL.

George Parker Bidder was one of the
most remarkable mathematical gen
fuses and was about the only one
among this class OF infant prodigies
whose talents were really useful in
later life and followed up his preco-
cious youth with a successful man
hood.
Bidder was born in 1906 at Morton
Hampstead, in Devonshire, England,
where his father carried ON a small
business as a stonemason. When only
four years old Bidder showed a most
extraordinary ability for calculation.
His peculiar talents soon attracted
general attention, and his father found
it more profitable to travel about the
country and exhibit his son as the
Calculating phenomenon" than follow
his humble trade. The boy was taken
to London, and his peculiar talents
We're investigated by the most learned
men of his time, whom he astonished
by the rapidity with which he an
ENtttu titc l1loSl uiliGult uutsllpnS.
The following question was solved by
him in forty seconds: Suppose the
ball at the top of st. Peters cathedral
to be six feet in diameter, what did
the gliding cost at 31a pence per square
inchY" The answer, 1927 los. Id, was
given before the examiner had time to
put the figures of the example on pa
per. The following question was an
swered In sixty seconds: Suppose
city to be illuminated with 5000 lamps,
each lamp TO consume one pint of oil
every four hours in succession, how
many gallons would they consume in
forty years?" The answer contains
nine figures, 100 4S9,O50 gallons. An
other curious question was, Suppose
the earth to consist of 100000 in
habitants and suppose they die in 80
years 4 months, how many have re-
turned to dust since the time of Adam,
computing 1t to be 1850 years?" This
problem offered no difficulties to the
lad. who nonchalantly ratified off the
answer In less than thirty seconds.
Fortunately for the boy, he attracted
the attention of some eminent schol-
ars, who had him educated Mt Gambler
well and afterward at Edinburgh,
where he carried off all the prizes for
the study of higher mathematics. Aft
er his graduation from college he pur-
sued the profession of engineer and be-
came associated with Robert Stephen
son and assisted in constructing the
Birmingham railway. Later in life he
entered parliament and many stories
are told of Bidders wonderful skill in
detecting flaw in some set of elabo-
rate calculations. He died at Dart
mouth in 1878.
Another extraordinary child was Ze
rah Colburn, who was born at Cabot,
VT. In 1904. His remarkable genius
for abstruse mathematical problems
was displayed at an early age, and
when eight years old he solved the
most difficult problems by the mere
operation of his mind. Asked by an
eminent mathematician to give the
square of 900, 800. he replied almost in
stantly, giving the figures 999, 99S, 000,-
0001, without any hesitation. He OBJ
served that he produced the result by
multiplying the square of 37,037 by the
square of 81. He was then asked to
multiply the answer twice by 40 and
,nce by 25, task which he accomplish
ed In less than two minutes, although
the answer consists Of seventeen fig
ures. In five seconds he gave the cube
root Of 1895, 34S,677, and to all ques-
tons of a similar nature he succeeded
In giving correct answers. Professors
and scientific men endeavored to OBJ
tain a knowledge of Colburn's methods,
but the boy declared that he was IN
able to explain how the answers came
into his mind. He was ignorant of the
commonest rules of arithmetic and
could not solve problem on paper, not
even a simple feat in multiplication or
division. Colburn's faculty of compu-
tation left him when he reached man
hood. and he died at the early age Of
thirty-six.
A singular instance OF this curious
development of the calculating faculty
and differing in several respects from
Bidder and Colburn Is the case of Je-
bediah Buxton, who, though he cannot
be called an infant prodigy, was one of
the most remarkable of the mental cal
culators whose names are part of the
history of the curious. Buxton was
born In 1907 at Elmerton, in Derbyshire,
where his father was schoolmaster,
Notwithstanding his fathers profess
sion, Jebediah's education was neglect
ed He was not even taught to write.
1t was not until he had arrived at
mans estate that he showed any apti-
tude for mental arithmetic Once in
terested in the subject, however, his
mind developed with amazing rapidlty.
He had a remarkable memory, and
while in the midst of a problem he
could desist and resume the operation
again where he had left off, even IL it
were year after. A remarkable thing
about the man was that he would al
low two persons to propose different