The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-04-13
FIGURE JUGGLING
/ !. rs. :: EASY i FOR THEM
~ g., a. ... f9!aa r.. 80 !:
1NFANT PRoDIG1Es WHO SOLVE
,.... = ABsTRUsE PROBLEMS.
&, 2 @a Ii
Mathematics As to Them Like Marbles
ort Baseball to the Ordinary Boy
Answers Sometimes Come Before the
r. Numerals Of the Problem Gould Be
:. Put on Paper. e ~-,v-~: :
New York Herald

';l.-E-t New YOrK Herald.
George Parker Bidder was one of the
fuses and was about the only one among
this class Of infant prodigies whose
talents were really useful to him in
later life and who followed up his pre-
cocious youth with, successful man
hood. ~
Bidder was born; in 1906 at Morton
Hampstead, in Devonshire, England,
where his father carried on small
business as stonemason. When only
4-years. old Bidder. showed a most ex-
traordinary ability for calculation.
general attention, and his father found
It more profitable to travel about the
country and exhibit his son as the
calculating phenomenon than to fol-
low his humble trade. '' 1-
The boy was taken to london and his
peculiar talents were investigated by
the most learned men of his time, whom
he astonished by the rapidity with
which he answered the most difficult
questions. 49, 60. ~
hin The e 9 }aety seysd b
ball at the top of st. Peters cathedral
to be six feet in diameter, what did the
gliding cost at 80 pence per square
inch9' :, The answer, 58237 los Id,
was given before the examiner had
time to put the figures of the example
on paper.
The following question was answered
in sixty seconds: Suppose a city to
be Illuminated with $500 lamps, each
lamp to consume one pint Of oil every
four hours in succession, how many. gal
yearsg'' The answer contains nine
figures, 169, 4S9, $3.50 gallons. - tx .
Another curious question was: "Sup-
pose the earth to consist Of OIL 600, 900
inhabitants and suppose they die in
thirty years and four months, how many
have returned to dust since the time Of
Adam, computing it to be 1850 years9''
This problem offered no: difficulties te
the lad, who nonchalantly ratified of
the answer in less than thirty seconds
Fortunately for the boy, he ATTRACTED
who had. him educated, at Camberwel
and ..afterward at Edinburgh: where he
carried off all the prizes for the study
Of higher mathematics. After his grad
uation from college he pursued the pro
fession Of engineer and became asso
ciated with Robert Stephenson ant
assisted in constructing the Birmingham
railway.
Later in life he entered parliament
l. anu many SIOF1eS tare COlQ OF bIuQeT
wonderful skill in detecting flaw il
some new set Of elaborate calculations
4 He died at Dartmouth in 1873.
Another extraordinary child wa
Zerah Colburn, who was born at Cabot
W.T.. in. 1904. His remarkable geniu
for abstruse mathematical problems wa
displayed. at an early age, and whel
Il s years he solved the most Difficult
problems by the mere operation of hi
mind. Asked by an eminent mathema
tician to give the square Of s999,999, b
replied almost instantly, giving tn
figures 999, 99S, 0OO,Oo1, without an
hesitation. He produced the result b
multiplying the square of 81 1927 by tn
square of q. He was then asked t
multiply the answer twice by 49 an
once by Is, task which he accom-
lished in less than two minutes, alth
the answer consists of II figures.
In five seconds he gave the cube roc
of 413, 1893 ,348, 677, and to all question
of similar nature he succeeded in gi,
ing correct answers. Professors an
scientific men endeavored to obtain
knowledge of Colburn g methods, bl
the boy declared that he was unable
explain how the answers came. to b
mind