25 August 2013

Thoughts 26AUG2013

EXPONENTIAL RATE
It is said that scientific knowledge is growing at an exponential rate. To appreciate what it means, consider the story of a farmer who brought his horse to be shod and asked what it would cost. The blacksmith said he would charge a penny for the first nail, 2 cents for the second, 4 cents for the third and so on. The farmer, innocent of mathematics, agreed. For eight nails in each shoe, or 32 nails altogether, his bill came to $42,949,672.95. An exponential rate of growth is a fearsome thing.
Extracted from "Bits & Pieces", The Economic Press, Inc., Fairfield New Jersey


The wind does not break a tree that bends : Sukuma

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