Flash Anzan, in which contestants add up numbers with an imaginary abacus, reveals the astonishing potential of the human brain – and makes for a breathtaking spectacle too. Fifteen numbers are flashed consecutively on a giant screen. Each number is between 100 and 999. When the contestant sees the first number he or she instantly visualizes the number on the imaginary abacus. When they see the second number they instantly add it to the number already visualized, and so on. At the end of the game the contestants cannot remember any of the numbers, or the intermediate sums. They only retain the final answer on the imaginary abacus. Read more. Via Ran Prieur.
2 posts categorized "Mathematics"
Competing with Computers
Magnetic deviation, lightning calculators, nomograms and more "lost arts in the mathematical sciences" at Dead Reckonings. Related: Satellite navigation in the 18th century.
