Noesis

The Journal of the Mega Society

October/November 2004             Issues 174/175

Officers

Editor and Publisher:                           Ron Yannone

189 Ash Street #2

Nashua, NH 03060

Administrator:                                     Jeff Ward

13155 Wimberly Square

San Diego, CA 92128

Internet Officer:                                    Kevin Langdon

P.O. Box 795

Berkeley, CA 94701

Founder:                                             Ronald K. Hoeflin

P.O. Box 539

New York, NY 10101

no·e·sis – Greek Þ understanding – to perceive.  Psychology Þ the cognitive process

The Mega Society was founded in 1982 and has been documented in the GUINNESS BOOK OF WORLD RECORDS during the 1980s as the most exclusive society.  Mega means million and denotes the one-in-a-million status of its members.   Presently, the only viable adult-level admissions test is the Titan Test, developed by its founder, Ron Hoeflin – where 43/48 correct answers corresponds to the minimum accepted IQ level of 176.  See www.megasociety.org  Since its GUINNESS “distinction” in the 1980’s, the Mega Society with its 99.9999 percentile member status, remains “the most elite ultra-high IQ Society.”

Editorial Introduction to NOESIS Issues #174/175

– October/November 2004

Greetings avid readers to the combined 9^th and 10^th issue of Noesis (174 and #175) for October/November 2005.  In this special “combined set of holidays” issue everyone will find something of interest for themselves and the special people in their lives!

We open this issue with Halloween Memories by the editor – and although this fun day has passed by, its magical nostalgia has not.  Here you’ll learn the art of pumpkin carving, among other things.

We then move to Mathematical Quickies from the famous math problem developer, Charles W. Trigg.  We select some of the more challenging problems Charles has devised over the years.

As we move toward the next big American holiday (Thanksgiving), we celebrate it with the article A Time for Thanksgiving.  In this section we share recipes for an Apple Bavarian Torte and Cream of Pumpkin Soup!

 Everyone liked the insightful quotes by Joe Griffith presented in the past publications.  We continue with three areas of interest to all types of business – via the article Quotes on R&D (Research and Development), Risk, and Technology.

A short item by Albert Einstein will inspire our readers titled Three Rules of Work.

Myrna Reid Grant offers encouraging Poems for a Good and Happy Life.

Next, a real treat for our readers of Noesis, is a Star Trek original TV series quiz.  The exercise was developed by the editor after about 40 hours of viewing the 1^st season, taking copious notes, and typing the article titled Start Trek Quiz – 1^st Season (1966-1967).  This is a rare article that captures dialog in the first year’s shows that are not readily available elsewhere – a real collector’s treat!

I saw a book for “75 percent off” in price at the Barnes & Nobel bookstore a couple months ago titled: “The Art of Spelling – The Madness and the Method,” by Marilyn vos Savant.  Publisher is W. W. Norton & Company, 2000, ISBN 0-393-04903-5.  In the back inside jacket cover of the book we read:

Marilyn vos Savant is listed in The Guinness Book of Records Hall of Fame for her record IQ score: 228.  Her “Ask Marilyn” column appears weekly in Parade, the Sunday magazine for 341 newspapers, with a circulation of 37 million and a readership of 81 million: the largest in the world.

After reading Marilyn’s accolades, a fantastic idea came to mind.  Read about it in the article Pending Inquiry to Marilyn vos Savant on Publishing the Titan Test in Parade Magazine.

I want to thank Mega Society member Chris Cole for loading many of this year’s Noesis journal issues onto the Mega Society website (www.MegaSociety.org) – and for enhancing the method to monitor the number of visitors to the site.  Early October was the last time I worked on this final, combined Noesis journal issue for October [#174] / November [#175] until November 14^th – after I returned from Germany.  My desire is to release the combined issue the week of Thanksgiving.  The Mega Society “hit counter” has improvements, via Chris Cole,

“Now that there are more Noesis issues online, the search engines are picking up the site and we’re getting more visitors.  I had to move it to a new server to handle the load.  One of the features of the new server is that it has better reporting tools.”  (10-1-04) by Chris Cole

In early October when I went into the “hit counter” the bar graph read as follows:

We next continue with an article we developed – titled German Made Simple – Let’s Test It!

Schmidt Company of Nuremberg, Germany is among the leading bakers and distributors of Lebkuchen – gingerbread in simple words.  Schmidt distributes their baked products via many companies around the world.  We share Schmidt products via material in the web site by USA mail-order-house German Food Specialties.  My 15-piece “Festive Chest” order arrived November 12^th – and I plan to share its contents when I go to New Jersey for the Christmas holiday.  See the article Lebkuchen by Schmidt, Nuremberg, Germany.

The editor next shares the way he got into his present physical regimen via the insightful and encouraging article Those Green Sweat Pants.

Mega Society member Chris Cole sent a heads-up on the article Google Entices Job-Searchers with Math Puzzle.

The editor next shares some terrific mathematical relationships for the mathematical constant, π, via a new book by Posamentier and Lehmann titled “π.“  Besides many mathematical facts on π, you’ll learn a song about π and a mnemonic to remember the decimal places of π via a German language development.

Fred Metcalf shares really humorous jokes via the article Gentle Jokes.  For those who like Christmas, you’ll enjoy several of Fred’s quips centered around this joyful holiday!

Next, the editor shares a short article on herbs – Nature’s Medicine Chest.  The editor purchased this index-card herb set at a health seminar in the early 1990s.

Dr. Paavo Airola shares an article whose information can be incorporated by our readers to select healthy foods – Acid-Alkaline Foods.

An invaluable book by David Niven is used to share with our readers of Noesis and those they know – Some Secrets of Successful People.  The editor selects a handful of unique statistics Dave presents in his hard-cover book.

As the editor was preparing for his 3+ week trip to Germany (Dresden and Berlin) in October, he shared a wishful prayer with the readers in the article titled May We Foster the Healing Process prior to leaving for Germany.

The editor had a rich, simple childhood and Christmas has remained a landmark ingredient each year for him.  He shares this via the colorful article The Wonders of Christmas.

Food surrounds our lives – especially the holidays.  Folks will like a few recipes and corporate contacts to obtain great foods for the holidays and in the New Year – via articles like – Berliner Pfannkuchen.

The television program CSI – Las Vegas shows us the art and skill of logical deduction and lateral thinking to reconstruct complex crime scenes.  We continue with this topic via the article Lateral Thinking Puzzles – presented three times – puzzles, clues and then answers.  Readers may desire to have a friend read the progressive clues (per puzzle) to maximize the amount of genuine thought you expend on these.  The authors of the material used for this article are Ed Harshman, Des MacHale and Paul Sloane.

Brainstorming company offers insightful ways to “brainstorm” – via Welcome to the Random Word Tutorial.  An interesting, effective way, to brainstorm is presented.  General Electric Company developed training courses in “brainstorming” as an integral part of its creative thinking program during the 1950s and 1960s.

Mind Tools company has something to offer in lateral thinking as well.  See the article titled Lateral Thinking.

The editor continues with White Christmas – Part II as this joyful season is coming fast upon us.

Some of the best quotes by famous people have been captured over the past years by Reader’s Digest – and the editor shares a handful in Reader’s Digest Quotable Quotes.

The editor was a member of a SPEBSQSA barbershop chorus in Utica, NY during the early 1980s.  Here he shares the first song he heard, learned, and remembers to this day – A House with Love in It.

The first (of two) technical papers the editor presented at the Military Sensing Symposium in Dresden was distributed in Noesis early this year.  The abstract for the second paper is presented in this issue titled: Enhancing The Commander’s Decision Aid To Meet Future Combat System Platform Protection System Requirements.

Next we hear from Dai Takeuchi in Japan.  Dai is a member of several hi-IQ societies – including the Prometheus Society and provides us the article written in German – titled Leben aIs Sinn von Sein.  The editor was in Kyoto, Japan in 1985 to present a technical paper at a Controls Conference.

The editor next shares a short article titled Stellar-IQ People and then Linda Gottfredson shares an article Schools and the g Factor.

Integer sequences surround us – and here we share an invaluable resource available both as a book and computer online asset by Neil J. A. Sloane and folks – The Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences.

We received some “Pony Express” mail and “voicemail” messages – by Dr. Ron Hoeflin and Paul Maxim – and we share this correspondence with our readers.  Dr. Hoeflin shares about a new book “The Know-It-All” where several pages the author A. J. Jacobs discuss Jacobs’ meeting with Dr. Hoeflin.  Energetic non-member subscriber Paul Maxim from the “Big Apple” reaches into our nostalgic mental libraries from the Prometheus Society’s Gift of Fire journal.

The editor and his mom were able to find Roland Muller’s home in Seiffen, Germany!  A short and colorful story will raise smiles from all readers in A Visit to Seiffen – Land of Nutcracker Artisans.

From early childhood, the editor continues to revolve around many pens to correspond and do work on paper.  He shares a high-tech writing instrument in the article My Crave for Pens.

John J. Watkins in 2004 put out a terrific book on linking graph theory and chess – loaded with theorems and the like.  Dr. Watkins sent a color photo of the book jacket cover (inside and out) and we share briefly some tidbits about his book in the final article of this issue of Noesis titled Across the Board – The Mathematics of Chessboard Problems.

Noesis Dues Status – Last Paid Issue

[1] new member 8/04 – receives a free issue (175+1=176)

NOESIS Journal – October/November 2004

– Issues #174/175

Halloween Memories

by Editor

When we were kids in elementary school, the thrill of Halloween was elevated due to a number of reasons.  The temperature was generally cooler, loads of leaves were on the ground in the neighbor’s yards and in huge mounds along the street-side curbs.  We’d walk through these huge mounds of leaves as we trekked to all the neighbor’s houses for the long-anticipated treats.  But a few weeks before October 31^st was anticipation – deciding on the costumes – many times homemade.  At school we would do up Halloween cards and have assignments relating to Halloween.  Traditional dinner on Halloween night at around 4 p.m. was our mom’s homemade chili con carnie.  We were well-equipped with a pillow case to carry our treasures – and the evening officially began for us at 5 p.m.  On our minds were the more wealthy families in the area – who offered large candy bars, sometimes invited us in for a cup of hot cocoa or mulled cider.  The short reprieve was appreciated.  We’d leave these “mansions” re-energized to conquer the territory – usually till about 9 p.m.  When we returned to the house, divide up the loot – about 2/3 was squirreled away by our mom – for a couple months down-the-road – when the treats would really be appreciated.  We were exhausted after the long night and would talk of our unique experiences with the homes visited.  Fortunately, we had the next day off from school if Halloween fell on a Sunday through Thursday.  That was great – because the next day we could enjoy the loot!

Mathematical Quickies

by Charles W. Trigg

Charles W. Trigg, Dean Emeritus and Professor Emeritus at Los Angeles City College, has produced and compiled many interesting math puzzles, and has authored some great articles in many journals.  This article celebrates Charles’ prowess via a Dover publication titled “Mathematical Quickies – 270 Stimulating Problems with Solutions,” original copyright 1967 (2^nd publication 1985), ISBN: 0-486-24949-2, USD $5.95, paperback, about 5 3/8 inch wide by 8 ½ inch long by ½ inch thick.

Back Book Cover: For the mathematics enthusiast of any age or level of sophistication, this stimulating treasury of unusual math problems offers unlimited opportunity for mind-boggling recreation . . . . Charles . . . is one of the country’s best-known problemists, has compiled nearly 300 mathematical brainteasers from the fields of arithmetic, algebra, plane and solid geometry, trigonometry, number theory, and such general recreational mathematics as dissections, cryptarithms and magic squares.  The object of each problem is to find the quickest, most elegant solution – they are often unorthodox and there is usually an element of surprise in each.  Ranging from the simple to complex, problems are both original with the author and the work of over 100 qualified mathematicians.  Most are rarely seen or entirely new; all challenge the reader to devise solutions more elegant than the ones provided.  The book was originally published by McGraw-Hill Book Company, N.Y. in 1967.

Problem 85 – The Prize Contest (page 25)

Professor E. P. B. Umbugio is trying to supplement his meager academic salary by entering soap contests. One such contest requires the contestants to find the number of paths in the following array which spell out the word MATHEMATICIAN.  Umbugio has counted 1,587 paths which originate from one of the first five rows.  With the deadline for submitting entries approaching, he is distraught, to say the least.  Help the professor out by finding the number of paths with a minimum of computation.

Problem 90 – A Surprising Square (page 27)

In what system(s) of numeration is 11111 a perfect square?

Problem 99 – A Skeleton Product (page 29)

The product of three consecutive even integers is 8 7 * * * * * 8.  Find the integers and supply the missing digits in the product.

Problem 120 – Feeding Three Truck-drivers (page 34)

Three truck-drivers went into a roadside café.  One truck-driver purchased four sandwiches, a cup of coffee and ten doughnuts for $1.69.  Another truck-driver purchased three sandwiches, a cup of coffee and seven doughnuts for $1.26.  What did the third truck-driver pay for a sandwich, a cup of coffee and a doughnut?

Problem 177 – Tetrahedron through a Straw (page 49)

Given a flexible, thin-walled cylinder, such as a soda straw, with diameter d.  What is the edge e of the largest regular tetrahedron that can be pushed through the straw?

Problem 215 – Superposed Radical (page 59)

Evaluate

Problem 221 – Rhombic Dodecahedrons (page 60)

Show that space can be filled with rhombic dodecahedrons.

Problem 236 –How Old Is Willie? (page 64)

”Did your teacher give you that problem?” I asked.  “It looks rather tedious.”

“No,” said Willie, “I made it up.  It’s a polynomial equation with my age as a root.  That is, x stands for my age my last birthday.”

“Well, then,” I remarked, “It shouldn’t be so hard to work out – integer coefficients, integral root.  Suppose I try x = 7 . . . No, that gives 77.”

“Do I look only seven years old?” demanded Willie.

“Well, let me try a larger integer . . . No, that gives 85, not zero.”

“Oh, stop kidding!” said Willie, looking over my shoulder.  “You know I’m older than that.”

How old is Willie?

Problem 249 – The Bonus Fund (page 67)

It was planned to distribute fifty dollars of a bonus fund to each employee, but the last man would have gotten only forty-five dollars.  In order to effect an equitable distribution, forty-five dollars was given to each person, and ninety-five dollars was kept in the fund for the following year.  How much money was in the fund to begin with?

Problem 266 – When Is the Division Exact? (page 72)

For what positive integral values of n does 2n + 1 divide n⁴ + n²?

A Time for Thanksgiving

by Editor

Thanksgiving is a special time of year for people in America.  It gives them a time to reflect back to the forefathers – the Pilgrims – who traveled under extreme conditions for apparent freedom.  In today’s world, the term “freedom” has been re-defined in a multitude of ways.  In an age of persistent war and terrorism, Americans, and people in countries all over the globe, continue to find peace-of-mind by “looking up” to God.  People find God a loving Shepard – who provides and cares for His flock.  In whatever ‘state’ we find ourselves, with God by our side, we can know stability of mind.  Because our mind is the ‘rudder’ of our being, it is important to have it linked with Divine Omnipotence.   There are thousands of things to be “thankful” for – many of these items go undetected – all too easily.  In this section we present a small variety of items we hope will console, cheer, and reinforce the meaning of Thanksgiving.

Psalm 100   Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all the lands! Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! Know that the Lord is God! It is he that made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him, bless his name! For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures for ever, and his faithfulness to all generations.

 

THE PLYMOUTH THANKSGIVING STORY

John Burrows - Director, Fourth World Documentation Project

http://www.2020tech.com/thanks/temp.html 

 When the Pilgrims crossed the Atlantic Ocean in 1620, they landed on the rocky shores of a territory that was inhabited by the Wampanoag (Wam pa NO ag) Indians. The Wampanoags were part of the Algonkian-speaking peoples, a large group that was part of the Woodland Culture area. These Indians lived in villages along the coast of what is now Massachusetts and Rhode Island. They lived in round-roofed houses called wigwams. These were made of poles covered with flat sheets of elm or birch bark. Wigwams differ in construction from tipis that were used by Indians of the Great Plains. 

The Wampanoags moved several times during each year in order to get food. In the spring they would fish in the rivers for salmon and herring. In the planting season they moved to the forest to hunt deer and other animals. After the end of the hunting season people moved inland where there was greater protection from the weather. From December to April they lived on food that they stored during the earlier months. 

The basic dress for men was the breech clout, a length of deerskin looped over a belt in back and in front. Women wore deerskin wrap-around skirts. Deerskin leggings and fur capes made from deer, beaver, otter, and bear skins gave protection during the colder seasons, and deerskin moccasins were worn on the feet. Both men and women usually braided their hair and a single feather was often worn in the back of the hair by men. They did not have the large feathered headdresses worn by people in the Plains Culture area. 

There were two language groups of Indians in New England at this time. The Iroquois were neighbors to the Algonkian-speaking people. Leaders of the Algonquin and Iroquois people were called "sachems" (SAY chems). Each village had its own sachem and tribal council. Political power flowed upward from the people. Any individual, man or woman, could participate, but among the Algonquins more political power was held by men. Among the Iroquois, however, women held the deciding vote in the final selection of who would represent the group. Both men and women enforced the laws of the village and helped solve problems. The details of their democratic system were so impressive that about 150 years later Benjamin Franklin invited the Iroquois to Albany, New York, to explain their system to a delegation who then developed the "Albany Plan of Union." This document later served as a model for the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution of the United States. 

These Indians of the Eastern Woodlands called the turtle, the deer and the fish their brothers. They respected the forest and everything in it as equals. Whenever a hunter made a kill, he was careful to leave behind some bones or meat as a spiritual offering, to help other animals survive. Not to do so would be considered greedy. The Wampanoags also treated each other with respect. Any visitor to a Wampanoag home was provided with a share of whatever food the family had, even if the supply was low. This same courtesy was extended to the Pilgrims when they met. 

Compliments of AMICA Insurance

T

houghts of the fall

H

ave led us to

A

familiar place

N

ear our hearts;

K

nowing that we’ll

S

oon be home to

G

ive to one another

I

n our unique ways;

V

isiting old places,

I

nventing new memories,

N

ear to each other,

G

rateful for life’s bounty.

We can only guess what the Wampanoags must have thought when they first saw the strange ships of the Pilgrims arriving on their shores. But their custom was to help visitors, and they treated the newcomers with courtesy. It was mainly because of their kindness that the Pilgrims survived at all. The wheat the Pilgrims had brought with them to plant would not grow in the rocky soil. They needed to learn new ways for a new world, and the man who came to help them was called "Tisquantum" (Tis SKWAN tum) or "Squanto" (SKWAN toe). 

 Squanto was originally from the village of Patuxet (Pa UK et) and a member of the Pokanokit Wampanoag nation. Patuxet once stood on the exact site where the Pilgrims built Plymouth. In 1605, fifteen years before the Pilgrims came, Squanto went to England with a friendly English explorer named John Weymouth. He had many adventures and learned to speak English. Squanto came back to New England with Captain Weymouth. Later Squanto was captured by a British slaver who raided the village and sold Squanto to the Spanish in the Caribbean Islands. A Spanish Franciscan priest befriended Squanto and helped him to get to Spain and later on a ship to England. Squanto then found Captain Weymouth, who paid his way back to his homeland. In England Squanto met Samoset of the Wabanake (Wab NAH key) Tribe, who had also left his native home with an English explorer. They both returned together to Patuxet in 1620. When they arrived, the village was deserted and there were skeletons everywhere. Everyone in the village had died from an illness the English slavers had left behind. Squanto and Samoset went to stay with a neighboring village of Wampanoags. 

One year later, in the spring, Squanto and Samoset were hunting along the beach near Patuxet. They were startled to see people from England in their deserted village. For several days, they stayed nearby observing the newcomers. Finally they decided to approach them. Samoset walked into the village and said "welcome," Squanto soon joined him. The Pilgrims were very surprised to meet two Indians who spoke English. 

The Pilgrims were not in good condition. They were living in dirt-covered shelters, there was a shortage of food, and nearly half of them had died during the winter. They obviously needed help and the two men were a welcome sight. Squanto, who probably knew more English than any other Indian in North America at that time, decided to stay with the Pilgrims for the next few months and teach them how to survive in this new place. He brought them deer meat and beaver skins. He taught them how to cultivate corn and other new vegetables and how to build Indian-style houses. He pointed out poisonous plants and showed how other plants could be used as medicine. He explained how to dig and cook clams, how to get sap from the maple trees, use fish for fertilizer, and dozens of other skills needed for their survival. 

By the time fall arrived things were going much better for the Pilgrims, thanks to the help they had received. The corn they planted had grown well. There was enough food to last the winter. They were living comfortably in their Indian-style wigwams and had also managed to build one European-style building out of squared logs. This was their church. They were now in better health, and they knew more about surviving in this new land. The Pilgrims decided to have a thanksgiving feast to celebrate their good fortune. They had observed thanksgiving feasts in November as religious obligations in England for many years before   coming to the New World. 

The Algonkian tribes held six thanksgiving festivals during the year. The beginning of the Algonkian year was marked by the Maple Dance which gave thanks to the Creator for the maple tree and its syrup. This ceremony occurred when the weather was warm enough for the sap to run in the maple trees, sometimes as early as February. Second was the planting feast, where the seeds were blessed. The strawberry festival was next, celebrating the first fruits of the season. Summer brought the green corn festival to give thanks for the ripening corn. In late fall, the harvest festival gave thanks for the food they had grown. Mid-winter was the last ceremony of the old year. When the Indians sat down to the "first Thanksgiving" with the Pilgrims, it was really the fifth thanksgiving of the year for them! 

Captain Miles Standish, the leader of the Pilgrims, invited Squanto, Samoset, Massasoit (the leader of the      Wampanoags), and their immediate families to join them for a celebration, but they had no idea how big Indian families could be. As the Thanksgiving feast began, the Pilgrims were overwhelmed at the large turnout of ninety relatives that Squanto and Samoset brought with them. The Pilgrims were not prepared to feed a gathering of people that large for three days. Seeing this, Massasoit gave orders to his men within the first hour of his arrival to go home and get more food. Thus it happened that the Indians supplied the majority of the food: Five deer, many wild turkeys, fish, beans, squash, corn soup, corn bread, and berries. Captain Standish sat at one end of a long table and the Clan Chief Massasoit sat at the other end. For the first time the Wampanoag people were sitting at a table to eat instead of on mats or furs spread on the ground. The Indian women sat together with the Indian men to eat. The Pilgrim women, however, stood quietly behind the table and waited until after their men had eaten, since that was their custom. 

 For three days the Wampanoags feasted with the Pilgrims. It was a special time of friendship between two very different groups of people. A peace and friendship agreement was made between Massasoit and Miles Standish giving the Pilgrims the clearing in the forest where the old Patuxet village once stood to build their new town of Plymouth. 

 It would be very good to say that this friendship lasted a long time; but, unfortunately, that was not to be.  More English people came to America, and they were not in need of help from the Indians as were the original Pilgrims. Many of the newcomers forgot the help the Indians had given them. Mistrust started to grow and the friendship weakened. The Pilgrims started telling their Indian neighbors that their Indian religion and Indian customs were wrong. The Pilgrims displayed an intolerance toward the Indian religion similar to the intolerance displayed toward the less popular religions in Europe. The relationship deteriorated and within a few years the children of the people who ate together at the first Thanksgiving were killing one another in what came to be called King Phillip's War. 

It is sad to think that this happened, but it is important to understand all of the story and not just the happy part. Today the town of Plymouth Rock has a Thanksgiving ceremony each year in remembrance of the first Thanksgiving. There are still Wampanoag people living in Massachusetts. In 1970, they asked one of them to speak at the ceremony to mark the 350th anniversary of the Pilgrim's arrival. Here is part of what was said: 

"Today is a time of celebrating for you -- a time of

looking back to the first days of white people in America.

But it is not a time of celebrating for me. It is with a

heavy heart that I look back upon what happened to my

People. When the Pilgrims arrived, we, the Wampanoags,

welcomed them with open arms, little knowing that it was

the beginning of the end. That before 50 years were to

pass, the Wampanoag would no longer be a tribe. That we and

other Indians living near the settlers would be killed by

their guns or dead from diseases that we caught from them.

Let us always remember, the Indian is and was just as human

as the white people.

Although our way of life is almost gone, we, the

Wampanoags, still walk the lands of Massachusetts. What has

happened cannot be changed. But today we work toward a

better America, a more Indian America where people and

nature once again are important."

STUDY AND DISCUSSION QUESTIONS – The Thanksgiving Story

     1.   Who lived on the rocky shores where the Pilgrims landed? 

     2.   The Wampanoags were part of what culture area? 

     3.   In what type of homes did the Wampanoags live? 

     4.   Explain what the Wampanoags did to obtain food during the different seasons of the year? 

     5.   What was the basic dress for the Wampanoag people? 

     6.   Describe the Iroquois system of government. 

     7.   Who later used this system of government as a model? 

     8.   What courtesies did the Wampanoag people extend toward all visitors? 

     9.   Who was "Tisquantum" and what village was he from? 

    10.  Explain how Squanto learned to speak English. 

    11.  Why did Squanto and Samoset go to live with another Wampanoag village? 

    12.  Tell four ways in which Squanto helped the Pilgrims. 

    13.  Describe the "First Thanksgiving" in your own words. 

    14.  Why was this really the fifth thanksgiving feast for the Indians that year? 

    15.  What do you think would have happened to the Pilgrims if they had not been helped by the Indians?

    16.  After studying about the culture of the Wampanoags, how would you react to a thanksgiving picture showing tipis and Indians wearing feathered headdresses? 

    17.  Quickly re-read the lesson and as you read, make a list of vocabulary words that are new to you and write a definition for each one. 

Quotes on R&D, Risk and Technology

Compiled by Joe Griffith

Joe Griffith’s “Speaker’s Library of Business Stories, Anecdotes, and Humor,” dated 1990; ISBN 0-7607-1956-X.  Three sections (R&D, Risk, and Technology) are presented here to provoke thought for Brainstorming sessions.

Research And Development

“I never perfected an invention that I did not think about in terms of the service it might give others.”  Thomas Edison

▶ Speeding up product development can mean additional profits

“If you get to market sooner with new technology, you can charge a premium until the others follow.”  John Handly, vice president, AT&T

▶ A valued trademark name doesn’t always assure the success of a new product

RCA is a well-known trademark name for radios and televisions, but when RCA tried to market kitchen appliances in the 1940s, it failed.  The consumer didn’t connect radios and televisions with refrigerators.

▶ You can be successful without spending lots of money on research and development

Crown Cork and Seal relies on top customer service to succeed, and they do little basic research and don’t pioneer new products.  Instead, its R&D department is used to solve specific customer problems quickly and to imitate new product innovations created by competitors.

▶ It’s not enough to develop new products, you also need the money to exploit their potential

IBM didn’t invent the personal computer but had the resources to succeed against those who were early entrants into the market.

▶ Companies that create new products often discover that the largest market was not originally known

When Alfred Nobel was developing dynamite, he was trying to discover a better explosive for the military.  As it was, dynamite turned out to be too dangerous for the military but eventually was used by the mining and construction industries, along with the railroad, to replace the pick and shovel.

▶ The most successful companies are those that invest in research labs

The idea of research labs was implemented for General Electric in 1905.  Next came Bell Labs, later Du Pont, and then IBM.

“Basic research is what I am doing when I don’t know what I am doing.”  Wernher von Braun

▶ New products don’t always come from research and development

In 1957, Vic Barouh’s company made carbon paper.  One day he saw a secretary use chalk to erase a mistake.  This is how the idea for Ko-Rec-Type was born.

▶ Developing a new product is the first step.  The second step is getting the potential recognized

“Xerography, invented by patent attorney and amateur physicist Chester Carlson in his New York City kitchen, was patented in 1937, but IBM, RCA, Remington Rand, and General Electric, among others, rejected it.”  Mark Green and John F. Berry, The Challenge of Hidden Profits

▶ Develop products that are needed

“Competition from the Japanese is just one of a whole bunch of old saws that people use to explain product failure.  The key is to find something that will make a difference in your customer’s business.  Successful products provide instant economic success to the users.”  Modesto Maidique, author

▶ New products need to get to market quicker to recoup research and development money faster

The safety razor took nine years for Gillette to manufacture; television, twenty-two years; radio, eight years; the cotton picker, fifty-three years; nylon, eleven years; the zipper, twenty-seven years.

▶ New products come from companies that encourage new products

The 3M Company has what they call a “10-percent rule.”  Employees can spend 10 percent of their time on any project, just as long as it’s related to 3M’s business.  You know those little yellow stick-on paper slips everyone uses?  They were developed with the 10-percent rule and have been a big success at 3M.

▶ When developing a new product, make sure it will fulfill a need

That’s what Betty Nesmith, an executive secretary, did in 1951.  The speed of the electric typewriter, new on the market, seemed to multiply typing errors.  She concocted a mixture of water-based paint and a coloring agent that blended with the bank’s stationery.  Soon other employees wanted to use her correction fluid, and by 1956, she was making and selling the product full-time.  In 1979, Gillette bought her Liquid Paper Corporation for $47.5 million.

▶ It can be easier to succeed with an improved product than it is with a new product

It took Polaroid many years to reach $1 billion in sales with their innovative camera because they had to teach people how to use it.

▶ Sometimes technological discoveries occur accidentally

LTV Corporation’s “mistake” occurred in 1958, a landmark year for America’s space program.  The United States, racing to catch up with the Soviet Union, launched its first satellite.  The National Aeronautics and Space Administration was born.  And workers at what is now LTV Missile and Electronics Group’s Missiles Division in Dallas accidentally left a piece of carbon in a furnace too long.

When LTV workers examined the specimen they nicknamed “burnt toast,” they found that instead of burning up in the heat, it was strong.  The material, now known as reinforced carbon/carbon, has evolved into key structural material for the space shuttle and may be used on future space vehicles because of its strength and ability to withstand metal-melting temperatures.

▶ We can have more breakthroughs in research if we create an environment that encourages it

Consider how Montgolfier invented the hot-air balloon.  Looking into the fireplace, one of the brothers saw burnt paper scraps rise above the flames and up the chimney.  Heated air could make a balloon rise from the earth, he realized.

While working on a better way to make glass, British inventor Alastair Pilkington noticed a film of fat floating in his wife’s dishwasher.  That idea hook inspired a process where molten glass is floated on a layer of melted metal to provide an otherwise unachievable smoothness.

Dunlop got the idea for the rubber tire by looking at a garden hose.

Colt invented the revolver after watching a ship’s wheel turn.

▶ When a new product fails, don’t let managerial ego keep it on the market

Remember when Ford produced the Edsel.  It was a major failure.  All premarket research indicated that the Edsel would be well received, but the public didn’t buy it.  Ford quickly dropped the Edsel and thereby cut their losses short.  Had management’s ego been so big they didn’t want to admit their mistake, the Edsel could have stayed on the market and could have eventually made Ford Motor Company the failure and not just the product.

▶ The more dominate a company is in its market, the faster they can usually bring out new products

Black & Decker has a faster rate of new product introduction than any of its competitors in the power tool industry because it has a substantial lead in market share over its competitors.

3M, an office products leader, has over forty-thousand different products.

▶ Instead of developing product families, develop product lines

For example, when Stouffer’s rolled out its Lean Cuisine frozen entrees, what was being sold wasn’t frozen food.  The company very successfully sold the idea of high-class dieting to an increasingly health-conscious populace.  Lean Cuisine wasn’t targeted at customers looking for frozen entrees and dinners – it was focused on consumers who would be attracted to the idea that the food was convenient, tasty, and compatible with a healthful weight-conscious life-style.  The success of the idea is evident by the booming market for low-calorie frozen dinners.

▶ The more product research develops, the more you will develop through spin-off uses

3M’s brassiere project in the late 1950s was an attempt to borrow from 3M’s nonwoven-fiber technology, which already was used to make decorative ribbons for gift packages.  The 3M bra offered good support but not much in the way of styling.  Even though the bra wasn’t successful, it stimulated additional products that were successful.  The shape of the bra cups suggested a surgical mask, and the nonwoven fiber had the necessary porous property to let air in but keep germs from going out.

▶ Sometimes a product only has to be improved to increase sales

Take the fountain pen first introduced in 1884.  About sixty years later, after World War II, the ballpoint pen was invented.  Then came porous point pens, highlighters, and then mechanical pencils.

No matter how many new word processors or automated office equipment comes to market, pens will always be around in one form or another, as witnessed by the fact that annual sales of pens is near $3 billion.

▶ Give a product a new twist

The quickest way to create a new product is to give it a new twist to one that already exists.  This worked for Weight Watchers.  There were already hundreds of diets available, but Weight Watchers added the idea of support groups to dieters.

Risk

“Behold the turtle.  He makes progress only when he sticks his neck out.”  James B. Conant

“Nothing will ever be attempted if all possible objections must be first overcome.” Samuel Johnson

“There is only one danger I find in life – you may take too many precautions.”  Alfred Adler

“Progress always involves risks.  You can’t steal second base while keeping your foot on first” Frederick Wilcox

▶ Sometimes not taking a risk is a risk

“People who don’t take risks generally make about two big mistakes a year.  People who do take risks generally make about two big mistakes a year.”  Peter Drucker

▶ Risk is necessary for a company to grow and prosper

Pharmaceutical manufacturers always risk the danger of bringing a killer to market instead of a cure.  The Thalidomide drug brought out in the early 1960s left malformed infants.  The inoculations in the 1970s for infantile paralysis turned out to be lethal and had to be taken off the market.  But because they take these risks, lifesaving drugs have dramatically extended our life expectancy.

▶ Everyone has their own level of risk

“As far as I’m concerned, nothing is worth going broke for.”  Warren Avis, founder, Avis Car Rental

“Excessive caution can stop your potential as much as too much risk-taking.”  Robert H. Henry, humorist

▶ It may be better to let others take the risk

“Never be a pioneer; it doesn’t pay.  Let the other man do the pioneering and then after he has shown what can be done, do it bigger and more quickly; but let the other man take the time and risk to show you how to do it.”  Leo Bakeland, founder Bakelite Corporation

▶ Taking no risk is sometimes the biggest risk

“Every serious choice that a man or woman makes is a leap, more or less frightening, into contingency.  Not to make those choices, not to open oneself to misfortune and the fear of misfortune, is a tempting option, but one gives into it at the risk of never living a fully human life.”  Nelson Aldrich, Jr., Old Money

 ▶ The more we have, the more we have to lose and the less likely we are to take a risk

Success automatically breeds caution.  Listen to some of the sayings: “Don’t tamper with success.” “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.” “Don’t break up a winning team.” “Don’t ruin a good thing.”

“The people I want to hear about are the people who take risks.”  Robert Frost

“Great deals are usually wrought at great risks.”  Herodotus

“Take risks.  You can’t fall off the bottom.”  Barbara Proctor

“America is becoming a nation of risk-takers, and the way we do business will never be the same.”  Allan A. Kennedy

▶ We can reduce risk by preparation

Remember the famous saloon scene with W. C. Fields.  After watching the canny comedian survey his poker hand, a man asked, “Is this a game of chance?”  Fields replied, “Not the way I play it.”

▶ Perhaps the biggest threat to a successful business is the willingness to remain comfortable and reject the small risk that could lead to greater rewards

In the 1960s, Campbell Soup Company produced a comfortable profit almost like clockwork.  But a man named Gordon McGovern down in a little-known bakery division wasn’t satisfied.  Before long, McGovern developed a line of premium cookies.  Sales shot sky-high.  The brand name was Pepperidge Farm.

A few years later, McGovern was named Campbell’s chairman, and he quickly produced a line of gourmet soups that opened new markets.  Again sales soared.  Perhaps more important, McGovern’s creative, take-a-risk attitude soon permeated the company.

▶ Before taking a risk, think of Rudyard Kipling’s words:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings

And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings

And never breathe a word about your loss . . .

▶ Without risk, there is no reward

Academy Award-winning actor George Kennedy reached stardom only after he made a difficult decision to change the direction of his life.  He was in the army and had completed fourteen years’ service – just six short of retirement – when he decided that what he really wanted was to be an actor.

His family and friends advised him not to do it.  “Why give up the security of the army and sure retirement benefits for the insecurity of the actor’s world?  Why trade the certain for the uncertain?  At your age, you’re crazy to change careers.  How do you know you can ever be an actor?”

“Failure didn’t fit into my scheme of things,” he said.  He ventured to Hollywood, won an Oscar for his role in Cool Hand Luke and went on to star in a successful television series.  He now earns more from one TV commercial than he did in a year with the Army.

Technology

▶ No matter how technical we become, the customer must be number one

“IBM is customer- and market-driven, not technology-driven.”  Buck Rodgers, former IBM VP, Marketing

“Television is the triumph of machinery over people.”  Fred Allen

“Automation may be great, but nothing speeds up work like a wastebasket.”  Frank Hodur

▶ Technology is no better than the user

As one manager said: I don’t like this darn computer, I wish that they would sell it; it never does what I want it to do, only what I tell it.

▶ You can’t stop progress

“Once technology is out of the jar, you can’t put it back in.”  Ervin L. Glaspy

▶ Technology doesn’t have to be based on the space age to be useful

Ray Kroc built McDonald’s with the latest technology for making better hamburgers.  Because of technology, he built his fortune in a business, eating out, that was already overcrowded.

▶ Technology can save money and boost productivity

Burger King put TV terminals in their kitchens so that the chefs could read their incoming orders from a screen that were taken from the cash registers out front.  As a result, the cooks made fewer mistakes and wasted less food.

▶ We can’t always see the development of technology until after it occurs

Thomas Watson, founder of IBM, started out in the 1920s designing, selling, and installing punch-card equipment.  He had no idea that technology would take IBM to the forefront of the business world.

▶ Technology can give you a competitive advantage

The radial tire allowed Michelin to challenge Goodyear and Firestone.  In typewriters, electronics was the undoing of Underwood and other mainstays.

▶ New technology keeps you from sitting on your laurels

Years ago, Dictaphone was so far ahead in the Dictaphone industry they made the mistake of assuming nobody could catch up.  Then IBM bought Dictabelts, which had an advanced magnetic tape technology, and suddenly Dictaphone had to catch up.

Thomas Edison once said that his greatest discovery of all was the discovery of what people wanted to use.

“Technologies that are emerging today will give us the ability to explore, convey, and create knowledge as never before.  This has enormous implications for us as individuals, as well as for our institutions.  We have had an opportunity that is given to few generations in history.  I believe that if we respond with our best creative energies, we can unleash a new renaissance of discovery and learning.”  John Scully, chairman, Apple Computer

▶ Technology is what allows people to do things that otherwise would not be possible

“Technology is how to make and use a knife – how to weave cloth – how to make and control a fire – how to preserve food – and millions of other things, some that seem astounding, and others that are so familiar that they are simply taken for granted as being self-evident.”  Jerrier A. Haddad

“Most economists concur that 50 to 60 percent of our economic growth can be attributed to technological innovations.”  Ian M. Ross, president, AT&T, Bell Laboratories

▶ New technology can quickly get outdated

Technology progresses so fast that sometimes companies spend millions of dollars on equipment that is quickly replaced with new technology.  As one executive put it, “It’s like building an awesome horseshoe factory after Henry Ford has his insight into the automobile assembly line.”

Demand is often waiting for the technology to make it possible.  For example, America has been a national society for about twenty-five years, largely because of television.  But is never had a national newspaper until USA Today appeared, and it filled the demand only after technology made it possible.

▶ Technology can achieve total domination or total freedom

On February 8, 1984, U.S. astronaut Bruce McChandless walked in space . . . totally free of any connection to earth.  No ropes to the spacecraft, no planet beneath his feet.  For the first time ever, a human being was completely set free by technology.

▶ Some companies profit by sharing their technology

Kodak licensed their camera technology to numerous competitors to help them sell more cameras.  Kodak did this to stimulate sales of Kodak film.

Intel licensed IBM and Commodore to make the 8088 microprocessor.  This made buyers competitors, but it also scared off more competition in the process.

“Change brought about by new technology is never as important as it may become.  For example, when the telephone was invented, the chief engineer of the British Post Office said it might be useful in America, but in England, there was no need for telephones, since ‘we have plenty of messenger boys.’  A similar view was taken by an officer of Western Union, who expected the phone primarily would be used to help telegraph operators communicate with each other.  He simply could not visualize the elimination of telegraphers by universal telephone service.”  James H. Rosenfield, senior vice president, CBS Broadcast Group

▶ Technology can bring about a loss of worker pride

Think back to the days when most workers were craftsmen.  They took pride in their work.  Let’s follow a man named Jones.  Jones was a carriage maker, and one day, out of a job, he appeared at a wagon factory looking for work.  Instead of asking him to make the whole wagon, he was asked to only make wagon wheels.  The bigger the company got, the less part Jones played in making the wagon.  Eventually he only made part of the wheel.  He became detached and lost pride since he played such a small part.

“There has always been at each decisive period in this world’s history some voice, some note, that represented for the time being the prevailing power.  There was a time when the supreme cry of authority was the lion’s roar.  Then came the voice of man.  After that is was the crackle of fire. . . .  And now, finally, there was heard in the streets of Detroit the murmur of this newest and most perfect of forces, the automobile, rushing along at the rate of 25 miles an hour.

It was not like any other sound ever heard in this world.  It is not like the puff! puff! of the exhaust of gasoline in a river launch; neither is it like the cry! cry! of a working steam engine; but a long, quick, mellow gurgling sound, not harsh, not unmusical, not distressing; a note that falls with pleasure on the ear.  It must be heard to be appreciated.  And the sooner you hear its newest chuck! chuck! the sooner you will be in touch with civilization’s latest lisp, its newest voice.”  Henry Lacey Ford

Poems for a Good & Happy Life

Compiled by Myrna Reid Grant [1]

[1] “Poems for a Good & Happy Life - more than 225 poems to inspire and uplift your spirit,” compiled by Myrna Reid Grant, hardbound, Gramercy Books, 1997, ISBN 0-517-20367-4; 312 pages.

Mathematical Quickies – Answers

by Charles W. Trigg

Problem 85 – The Prize Contest (page 25, answer on page 114)

One may count the paths “backwards” from the N.  In counting the left half of the array, including the center column, there are two choices for each backward step.  Thus this portion yields 2 to the 12^th power paths.  Doubling this number and subtracting the center column to keep from counting it twice, yields 2 raised to the 13^th power – 1 = 8,191 paths.

Problem 90 – A Surprising Square (page 27, answer on page 117)

If the base of the system of numeration is B, B>1, then 11111 may be written .  Now,

.  If

 then  and and for B = 3, we have 11111 = (102)².  V. Thebault, National Mathematics Magazine, volume 15 (December, 1940), page 149.

Problem 99 – A Skeleton Product (page 29, answer on page 121)

No one of the units’ digits of the factors can be zero.  (4) (6) (8) = 192 and (2) (4) (6) = 48.  .  Therefore, the product is (442)(444)(446) = 87,526,608.  Mathematics Magazine, volume 37 (November, 1964), page 360.

Problem 120 – Feeding Three Truck-drivers (page 34, answer on pages 131,132)

The purchases of the first two truck-drivers establish the equations

4s + c + 10d = 169    (1)

and

3s + c + 7d = 126    (2)

Then we have:

2 times (1):        8s + 2c + 20d = 338   (3)

3 times (2):        9s +3c + 21d = 378   (4)

(4) – (3):                        s + c + d = 40 cents

which was paid by the third truck-driver.  School Science and Mathematics, volume 66 (June 1966), page 561.

Problem 177 – Tetrahedron through a Straw (page 49, answer on pages 158,159)

In a parallelogram consisting of a strip of four equilateral triangles, lines drawn parallel to a long side have a constant length 2e.  When the strip is folded into a regular tetrahedron, it follows that the sections of the tetrahedron made by planes perpendicular to the join of the midpoints of two opposite edges have a constant perimeter 2e.

Consequently, when its bimedian coincides with the axis of the cylinder, the tetrahedron may be pushed through a flexible thin-walled cylinder with a circumference pd = 2e.  Thus e = pd/2.  in practice, it would be helpful to have the end of the cylinder flared out slightly in order to get the job underway.

If the tetrahedron has a different attitude to the axis of the cylinder, some plane perpendicular to the axis will pass through a vertex and cut two edges not issuing from the vertex.  (The reader, if interested, needs to get the book to see the little illustration on page 159).  The perimeter of a typical section is greater than 2e.  Consequently, the tetrahedron cannot pass through the cylinder in this attitude.  It follows that the largest tetrahedron that can pass through the cylinder is one with edge pd/2.  mathematics Magazine, volume 39 (March, 1966), page 133.

Problem 215 – Superposed Radical (page 59, answer on page 178)

A general term of the sequence 11, 14, 17, · · · is 8 + 3n.  A general term of the sequence 4, 10, 18, · · · is .  The first integer cube greater than 11 is 27 or 3³.  To get 27 under the first radical sign there has to be 4⁴ = 64 under the second radical sign, since 11 + 16 = 27.  But with 64 = 14 + 50 under the second radical sign, 5³ = 125 must be under the third radical sign.  In general, under the (n + 1)st radical sign there must be (n + 3)³ , in order that there may be under the nth radical sign.  Therefore, the value of the given expression is 3.  Edgar Karst, Mathematics Magazine, volume 32 (January, 1959), page 169.

Problem 221 – Rhombic Dodecahedrons (page 60, answer on page 181)

In a compact aggregation of equal cubes (which are space filling) pass planes through the six pairs of opposite edges of alternate cubes.  Thus these cubes are dissected into six congruent pyramids with square bases and lateral edges equal to one-half the space diagonal of the cube.  Each of the nondissected cubes is now faced with six pyramids which together with the cube constitute a rhombic dodecahedron (one face for each edge of the cube) with the edges of the cube as face diagonals.  Since the volumes of all the cubes are used in this new assemblage, the rhombic dodecahedrons are space filling.

It follows immediately that the volume of a rhombic dodecahedron is equal to twice the cube of the short diagonal of a face.

Problem 236 –How Old Is Willie? (page 64, answer on page 188)

Willie’s friend, dispensing with trial-and-error, might make use of the fact that a – b is an integral divisor of P(a) – P(b) when a, b are distinct integers and P(x) is a polynomial with integral coefficients.  Denoting the “larger integer” tried by N and Willie’s age by A, we have N – 7 divides (85 – 77) or 8, A – 7 divides 77, A – N divides 85 and 7 < N < A.  It follows that N must be one of 8, 9, 11, 15 and A one of 14, 18, 84.  Since A – N divides 85, the second integer tried must have been 9 and Willie is fourteen years old.  D. C. B. Marsh, American Mathematical Monthly, volume 64 (October, 1957), page 593.

The polynomial must have been of the form (x-7) (x-9) (x-14) Q(x) - 3x² + 52x -140.

Problem 249 – The Bonus Fund (page 67, answer on page 195)

In effect, five dollars was taken from the 95/5 or 19 persons, so the fund contained 20(50) – 5 or 995 dollars.

Problem 266 – When Is the Division Exact? (page 72, answer on page 204)

Clearly, n and 2n + 1 have no common factor other than 1.  So f(n) cannot be an integer unless 5/(2n + 1) is, that is, when n = 2, 0, -1, or -3.  For the only positive integral value, n = 2, f(n) = 4.

Star Trek Quiz – 1^st Season (1966-1967)

by Editor

When the original television series of Star Trek came out, I was not interested in it.  I gravitated to the spy programs like The Man from U.N.C.L.E., The Wild, Wild West, Mannix, The CAT, I Spy, Mission Impossible, Secret Agent, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, and others.  Somehow, I eventually began watching Star Trek – and liked it.  What intrigued me the most was the “personal chemistry” between the main characters – Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock, Dr. Bones, and Scotty the chief engineer.  The space technology was great, and the consistency of the ship, the bridge, and ship layout were comforting.  I felt like I was a member of the crew.  But it was the dialog, the monologue, and interaction of the logic and emotion the key officers had among themselves and with those they interacted with – be they other humans on other planets and ship vessels, or the aliens (good and bad) they encountered.  Recently, the original TV Star Trek series has been released on DVD.  In reviewing several DVDs from the first (1966-1967) television series almost four decades later, my initial love for the “personal chemistry” between the main characters – the Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock, Dr. Bones, and Scotty the chief engineer – remains 100 percent in place.  Here I share the “chemical dialog” from the first season – via a matching exercise.  Avid Star Trek enthusiasts will match these quickly and confidently.  The first year series has 24+ hours of viewing material.

[ ] indicates date it appeared on TV

Space: The Final Frontier.  These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise.  Its Five year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations.  To boldly go where no man has gone before.  (The year is 2264.)

Star Trek Quiz – 1^st Season (1966-1967) - continued

by Editor

Star Trek Quiz – 1^st Season (1966-1967) - continued

by Editor

Star Trek Quiz – 1^st Season (1966-1967) - continued

by Editor

Star Trek Quiz – 1^st Season (1966-1967) - continued

by Editor

Star Trek Quiz – 1^st Season (1966-1967) - continued

by Editor

Pending Inquiry to Marilyn vos Savant on

Publishing the Titan Test in Parade Magazine

by Editor

We are always on the prowl for ways to disseminate the Mega Society admissions Titan Test.  We tried the American Mathematics Competition (AMC) avenue (http://www.unl.edu/amc/ ) back earlier this year – no responses yet.  One obvious avenue would be via a former member who obviously is proud of her high-IQ accomplishment of 228 – Marilyn vos Savant.  Marilyn was a member in the mid-1980s and was the Society’s secretary as well.  She appreciated the get-together with Mega Society founder Dr. Ronald K. Hoeflin and several other members in New York City back then as well.  She was honored to be among the member’s company based on a summary article she composed.  Marilyn “enjoys” the attention and role and position she has as the Parade magazine “Ask Marilyn” column each week.  If there is consistency in a person who came from the Mega Society, enjoyed the role(s) played in the Mega Society, wrote the Omni I.Q. Quiz Contest book covering the different hi-IQ societies (culminating with the Mega Society), then it would be logical that Marilyn would continue a sense of benevolence toward her alma mater, the Mega Society.  The “Ask Marilyn” column appears weekly in Parade, the Sunday magazine for 341 newspapers, with a circulation of 37 million and a readership of 81 million: the largest in the world.  Theoretically, we have 81 potential “candidates” out there (excluding the current or former Mega Society members who read Marilyn’s column).  The following email was sent to Marilyn with the simple inquiry as of September 24, 2004.  We’ll see if there is a reply – of any kind – before I publish this final, combined (October/November) issue of Noesis in mid-November.

“German Made Simple” – Let’s Test It!

by Editor, Eugene Jackson and Adolph Geiger

With over ½ million copies sold, the revised (by Robert D. Vanderslice) edition of “German Made Simple” by Eugene Jackson and Adolph Geiger is purported to have a forty-year record of making it easy to learn the German language.  I figured we give them a try!  I selected one lesson and created a ‘matching test’ to exercise the Publisher’s stamp: “Made Simple Books.”  The 8½-inch by 11-inch by ½-inch thick, 190-page paperback book is USD $12.95, originally published in 1965 by Doubleday, a division of Random House, Inc.; ISBN 0-385-19911-2.

pages 26-27.

Lebkuchen by Schmidt, Nuremberg, Germany

by German Food Specialties

Festive Chest - $89 + shipping

Those Green Sweat Pants

by Editor

About 12 years ago, my mom was encouraging me to accompany her to the YMCA in Red Bank, New Jersey.  I kept pushing it off.  I did a 2-mile walking program in the neighborhood several days a week – and figured this was about right.  I was 38 years old then.  Back in 1986, I moved to NH as part of the team from General Electric in Utica, NY to team with [then] Sanders Associates on a Joint Venture Program.  While in NH, December 1986, I attended a spiritual revival seminar where I learned the positive benefits of man’s first diet (in the Garden of Eden) and over the course of about 7 months went from a weight of 225 pounds to 170 pounds.  I’ve been about this weight since.  In NH, the first winter, I tried a jogging program in the winter before going to work.  I was foolish, and only wore short pants, a short-sleeve undershirt with sweatshirt – but no sweat pants.  The routine was to get out of a warm, cozy bed, and immediately go out in the frigid, early morning winter weather and jog 4 miles.  I’d return, somewhat sweaty, and jump into a hot shower, get dressed, and go to work.  It took its toll on my body.  I began to have excessive pain in my joints – especially knees, ankles, and at the top part of the feet near the toes.  This pain persisted for years.  The best I could do was a short 2-mile walk – in warmer weather.  In the winter, I’d do this same 2-mile walk with some pain, and the lingering pain lasted through the day.  It was hard to stand for long periods of time – “long” being half an hour at times.  I really crippled myself.  To this day, my body runs ‘cold’ – in that the slightest breeze over my back and/or neck – and initial body fatigue – give me aches in the center of my upper back between my shoulder blades, and my fingers and toes are sensitive to the cold if exposed for more than half an hour.  I may have produced an arthritic condition that was set up by jogging in the extreme cold without the right protection – especially in short pants.

When I returned to GE in Utica in 1989, I was an instructor - doing in-plant courses during and after work – and to stand for two to three hours wasn’t easy.  The pain in the ankles and knees persisted.  When I went to the 3-month Medical Missionary Training program in Klamath Falls, Washington in 1991, I was with a health group.  They could only suggest hot/cold hydrotherapy treatments – where I’d place my feet and legs into separate buckets of water as hot as I could stand for about 3 minutes, and then quickly transfer them into buckets of ice water for about 30 seconds.  The hot water drew blood to the feet, the cold water repelled the blood away.  This was a form of massage therapy – to get the blood circulation moving to and from the feet.  The effect of the treatments would be great for a few hours.  During this training program, we were assigned physical duties on the property – to clean up fallen branches, rake and bag dead leaves, repair stone walls, etc.  To stand and walk on the irregular earth was extra hard.  I’d easily sprain my ankle and/or put my knees out-of-whack.  I felt like a crippled person – but mentally felt I should be in better shape.  It was nearly impossible to find shoes and sneakers that were comfortable and did not “hurt” or “cut-in” near the toes.  I returned eventually to my parent’s home in 1992 or so when I learned my dad had cancer.  I tried to help him using herbal teas, naturally sweetened with licorice root – to ‘cover’ the awful taste of the brewed mixture of strong herbs I used.  I was fortunate that dad loved licorice!  While home, I’d make trips to other locations – like Albia, Iowa for a few months, and to Russia for a 1-month trek in October (1992 I think) to distribute Bibles and Christian literature for a church group.  When I learned of this trip, I immediately thought how will I possibly endure the cold and hours standing/walking all day?  God sustained my 5,000-mile trek across the Soviet Union – 3,000 miles by bus, and 2,000 miles on the Trans-Siberian railroad.

For most of my childhood, my mom was a heavy person – about 300 pounds.  My dad was very concerned – and continually suggested she look into an exercise program, among other ideas.  Each of us sometimes grows a “deaf ear” to counsel – and it generally takes some other “orthogonal” event in our lives to wake us up.  For mom it was learning that her weight placed her as a “borderline diabetic.”  This forced her to start to go to the boardwalk 4 miles from the house and begin walking.  It was grueling – every step.  Fear of having to depend on needles to inject herself with insulin, coupled with the tremendous effort it took to begin any form of exercise program, compounded the situation.  Everyone in the family “felt” my mother’s demise.  Mom fervently prayed for God’s help as she trekked the boardwalk – oftentimes red as a beet and sweating profusely.

When winter was nearing, mom looked into joining the local YMCA in Red Bank – about 10 minutes from where she worked.  This wasn’t cheap; it took stern discipline to go after work – being already tired, and then journeying 12 miles home in the cold and dark.  A hearty meal wasn’t always awaiting her, but many times it was.  My dad began cooking, and we all pitched in.  After a meal, mom would go into the living room, begin to watch the news, and fall off to sleep for an hour or so.  The regimen, brutal as it was, brought her weight under 200 pounds – to a safe level.  Each time, leaving her desk at work, she’d walk to her car in the parking lot – deciding to either go home, or to the YMCA.  Even reaching the YMCA parking lot, mom had to decide either to get out of the car or give into going to her warm, cozy home.

Like a born-again Christian, mom began encouraging everyone to join the YMCA.  Everyone in the family drew a deaf ear.  It often takes that “wake-up call” for feeble human beings to get out of their ruts.  As I progressed with my 2-mile walk almost daily, I still experienced the pains in the ankle and toe joints.  I really did not sweat during my walk – and I did not want to because I did not want to have to take a shower afterward, and use more clean clothes.

One evening, while I was sitting on the couch, mom presented me with a pair of green cotton sweat pants.  Money was tight, and for her to go-the-extra-mile to outlay money placed me in an awkward position.  She then encouraged me to simply “try” the YMCA once – accompanying her as a guest.  I pondered a bit.  I introspected my life – and knew deep-down that I needed to do more – to do something – to improve my physical condition.  I decided to give it a try.  I started on the treadmill because it was the closest to what I was already doing.  I found I was comfortable with a 4 mile-per-hour (mph) pace – which stacked up with my usual 15 minutes-per-mile I’d clocked myself at outdoors.  My walking regimen duration was predictable – which I liked – and was comfortable with.  Working in one’s “comfort zone” can be dangerous.  We develop a pattern that can turn into a dead-end if we aren’t careful.  We program ourselves into false, lowered levels of competence – and don’t move further sometimes due to fear – fear of failure.  But as we learned in Noesis #171 (page 51), “Of all the liars in the world, sometimes the worst are your own fears.” [Rudyard Kipling]

The first “positive” thing the YMCA gave was seeing people of all ages there – infants learning to swim to 90+ year olds doing the same!   As if their lives depended on this facility, they worked faithfully at their regimen.  You could feel for them – and in so doing – feel for yourself as well – the importance of a consistent, physical regimen.  I ventured over to the stationary bike – having seen my mom and others do it.  It was an easy transition for me.  Next, to my surprise, was seeing my mom use the rowing machine!  Like, wow!  This took me off-guard – and I was impressed – really.  My regimen increased.  The treadmill was like a continual “carrot” out in front of the horse (me).  I increased the walking pace to 4.2 mph – then used the inclination of 1 percent along with the raised walking pace.  The rowing machine – about 14 pulls per minute for 5 minutes was hard.  My wrists ached!  It became a little bit of a game now.  Eventually I reached 5 mph walking pace (not jogging! – where one foot was on the treadmill as the other foot was in the air) with an inclination of 3 percent.  I was thrilled as my body freely was sweating!  Sweating was a terrific feeling!   I knew afterward the reward would be a shower that had excellent water pressure (unlike the water pressure in the shower we had at home), followed by the steam room (more sweating!), ending with a shower.  My rowing machine program built up as well – to about 15 minutes and almost 20 pulls per minute.  The stationary bike was a 25-minute ‘relaxer’ – although pressing to pedal faster and faster.  Another reward was the whirlpool.  AaaHHH.

Without a doubt, I was getting hooked.  My mom, as parents who see their children advance toward good things they recommend for their children must feel, was beaming too.  My enthusiasm for the YMCA propelled mom as well.  Good things beget more good things.

I recall the grand event.  Going down stairs to the 6-lane pool.  Folks of all ages were swimming laps.  The “tone” of the pool was “seriousness.”  People were going back and forth with vigor and rigor.  I was able to swim the length of the pool under water.  I could not swim a third of the length above water though.  I mentally tried to pacify myself that being able to swim the length under water that I was “part-of-the-swim-gang” – but my conscience wouldn’t let me remain content very long.  The second time going to the YMCA, I mentally was charged to give it a try – to swim the length of the pool once, rest, and repeat this as best I could.  I wore a mask that covered my eyes and nose.  I looked freakish compared to all the other “serious” swimmers in the other 5 lanes.  They wore goggles.  I was always afraid of water getting up my nose as I swam as a child.  And because I was under the water more than above, I liked being able to see the bottom – be it in a pool or at the ocean.  I worked with the mask.  After about a month at it, I built up to a mile – 36 laps of the pool in 45 minutes.  It was a terrific regimen.  Treadmill for half an hour, rowing machine for 15 minutes, the stationary bike for 20+ minutes, a mile swim, shower, steam, shower.  This was about twice a week.  Between YMCA sessions, I’d do my 2-mile casual walk at home.  The program grew to include weights down in the basement of the YMCA as my starter.  When time allowed, I did 2-mile swims – about 90 minutes.  I really needed a catnap when I got home after these visits to the YMCA – and afterward a “farmer’s lunch.”

My dad passed away in 1993.  Because of the improvement in strength and circulation to my feet, hands, and knees, I was able to take on a new adventure.  My mom saw a newspaper ad for a volunteer math tutor at the Asbury Park Middle school – less than 4 miles away from my mom’s home.  The school was in jeopardy - as the average grade was 43 on a critical standardized NJ math test the students needed to pass.  I volunteered by trying two 6^th-grade math classes once a week.  I was apprehensive because it was hard to stand for a 40-minute class duration at the blackboard.  But this wasn’t bad if I rested between classes.  The role extended to all seven 6-th grade classes – twice a week.  In the end, the average score of the test, after being there from around late January to May, was 93 percent.  The school principal and vice-principal were elated – as were the parents of many of the students, as well as the students and the student’s teachers.  The graduation ceremony was a special event for all in attendance.  The YMCA program prepared me for this mutually-rewarding adventure.

In August 1995, an engineer (Bruce Partin) from [then] Sanders Associates called me at home inquiring if I would be willing to come up to Nashua, NH for 2 weeks as a contract engineer.  I did, and my concern was maintaining my YMCA regimen even during this short stay.  I stayed at the Residence Inn about 5 miles away.  I immediately inquired at the front desk where the closest YMCA was.  Fortunately, less than 2 miles – and the hotel had a special arrangement for me to get 5 free visits to the YMCA.  The 2-week assignment turned out to be 7 months living in the Residence Inn.  The YMCA regimen increased to 3 times a week, alternating the treadmill and pool at each session.  I would go after work.  I was working 60-hour weeks as well – and this was really hard.  My reward was to go out to nice restaurants on the weekend.

No one can predict the future.  Today, about 11 years after my mom presented me those green sweat pants – my regimen is summarized below – approximately 20,000 leg/arm movements!

[1] I frequently do up to 80 pulls per minute during the 25-minute session

Even with this terrific aerobic regimen, I do not consider myself in top physical shape.  It’s all relative.  I can’t climb a rope 20 feet to the ceiling if it were available, nor do 10 chin-ups or pull-ups.  The above regimen is very “clean” in that it is all in a nice line – it does not involve dodging across a field on rough terrain.  Nor does it involve scaling walls with a 50-pound backpack!  When we say someone is in “good shape” – I think of trained U.S. Navy Seal members, for example.  In their peak training regimen they will consume 7,000 calories of food a day and still lose weight.

I saw a 2005 calendar offered by the YMCA last week (9/1/04) that has interesting, and inspirational, facts.  I share some of these with our avid readers – in hope they may be encouraged as well – for themselves or someone they know.

YMCA – Across America

▶ The Clark County YMCA in Vancouver, Washington, serves its members through a total health approach.  The Y offers a relaxation studio, healthy cooking classes and a wellness resource center in addition to a full exercise facility.

▶ When budget cuts forced schools in Oakland, CA, to eliminate P.E. classes, the YMCA of the East Bay stepped in to operate exercise activities for 4,000 kids at seven area schools.

▶ People struggling with arthritis, fibromyalgia, and hip and knee replacements can exercise and socialize at the YMCA of Grand Island, Nebraska, which offers a specialized aquatics program.

▶ Young adults facing hard times can turn to a transition program of the YMCA of Greater Seattle.  Participants live in the Downtown Branch YMCA’s studio apartments while the Y helps them find jobs.

▶ In New Haven, Conn., the Central Connecticut Coast YMCA renovated historic homes into 35 apartments for large, low-income families.

▶ Through the Cyber Y program, the YMCA of San Diego County is bridging the digital divide by helping young people, families and older adults learn valuable computer skills in a caring and supportive environment.

▶ The Dryades YMCA in New Orleans operates the School of Commerce, which prepares thousands of people to enter the clerical, nursing and hospitality fields.

▶ The YMCA of South Hampton Roads in Norfolk, VA, transformed a bus into a rolling computer lab and library that visits low-income communities to offer computer classes and job-hunting assistance.

▶ Germany’s Hannover YMCA and the Reading, Pennsylvania and Berks County Metro YMCA expand the world views of young people through exchange programs that bring the two countries together at camps in Germany and Pennsylvania.

▶ Camp Kon-O-Kwee/Spencer in Fombell, Pennsylvania, serves more than 50,000 campers per year, including 10,000 with special needs.  The camp offers features designed especially for campers with disabilities.

▶ More than 2,500 middle-schoolers participate in enriching after-school recreation, free of charge, through the YMCA of Wichita, Kansas.

▶ To help ensure that its staff and volunteers live the mission, the YMCA of Albuquerque incorporates questions about character values during hiring interviews and discussions with potential board members.

▶ In West Palm Beach, Florida, Y staff and board members serve Thanksgiving dinner, donated by local restaurants, to members of the older adults program.

▶ The Neighbor-to-Neighbor program of the YMCA of Greater St. Petersburg, Florida, encourages families to “adopt” less fortunate families on a one-to-one basis.  Six hundred families receive grocery and toy certificates, ornaments describing the adoptive family and a live Christmas tree to replant.

▶ Every year, staff from the Beaver County YMCA in New Brighton, Pennsylvania, take children from 12 low-income families on a shopping spree to buy basic necessities for their neighbors.  Then the Y hosts a pizza party during which staff distribute purchases and offer subsidized memberships to all 12 families.

Google Entices Job-Searchers with Math Puzzle

by npr

Sept. 14, 2004 -- Mysterious banners at a Cambridge, Mass., subway stop have commuters scratching their heads. The signs, challenging passers-by to solve a complicated math problem, are actually a cryptic pitch by Google, which is looking to hire more brainy engineers. Andrea Shea reports.

The message at Harvard Square also appears on a billboard in California's Silicon Valley, but Google's name is nowhere to be found on the ads. It simply states:

{first 10-digit prime found in consecutive digits of e}.com

In case you're wondering -- or forgot -- e is the base of the natural system of logarithms, having a numerical value of about 2.71828 (though the number goes on forever).

The correct answer to the banner problem leads to a Web site that poses yet another puzzle. Eventually, the determined problem-solver lands at a Google Web page that asks the smart, or lucky, few for a resume.

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π

by Alfred S. Posamentier and Ingmar Lehmann

New material continues to flood the booksellers of the world – as people continue to author creative and entertaining topics.  A new release on the mathematical constant, π, is educational and well-written.  The book is “π – A Biography of the World’s Most Mysterious Number,” by Alfred S. Posamentier and Ingmar Lehmann; with Afterword by Dr. Herbert A. Hauptman – Nobel Laureate; by Prometheus Books, Amherst, NY, 2004, USD $26, ISBN 1-59102-200-2; hardbound, 324 pages; 6 ¼ inches wide by 9 ½ inches long by ¾ inches thick (paper portion).  The Epilogue, pages 245-273, contains π to 100,000 decimal places!

The Table of Contents for the book follows.  Seeing the number of pages gives a feel for the coverage.

Here, I share some of the nifty formulations for pi.

{page 63}  “A big change in the computation of π came in 1579, when the French mathematician Francois Viete (1540-1603), using the method developed by the Greeks, considered a regular polygon of 6 x 2¹⁶ = 393,216 sides and calculated π correct to nine decimal places.  He also discovered the first use of an infinite product, to determine the value of π.”

{page 64}  “Earlier we mentioned the work of John Wallis (1616-1703).  He was a professor of mathematics at Cambridge and Oxford universities, and published a book, Arithmetica infinitorum (1655), where he presented the formula for π (actually π /2, which we then merely double to get π):

This product converges to the value of π /2.  That means its double gets closer and closer to the value of π as the number of terms increases.”

{page 65}  “Wallis’s results were then transformed into a continued fraction by William Brouncker (ca. 1620-1684) by methods that we are not certain of today.  Brouncker obtained the value of π /4:”

{page 67}  “Our knowledge increased in 1668 when the Scottish mathematician James Gregory (1638-1675) anticipated Germany’s greatest mathematician of the seventeenth century, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, by five years when he came up with the following approximation formula for π:

This is a very rough approximation, since the series converges very slowly.  It would take one hundred thousand terms to get a five-place accuracy of π.”

{page 69}  “Although the great German mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss (1777-1855) also weighed in with calculations of π, he employed Zacharias Dahse (1824-1862), a lightning fast mental calculator, to assist with his research.  Dahse, using the formula

found π correct to two hundred decimal places.  Dahse became a legend with his calculating ability.  It is believed that he did these calculations mentally.  He was known to be able to multiply in his head two eight-digit numbers in forty-five seconds.  Multiplying two forty-digit numbers required forty minutes of mental calculation time, and he was able to mentally multiply two one-hundred-digit numbers in eight hours and forty-five minutes.”

{page 71}  “In 1914 the Indian mathematical genius Srinivasa Ramanujan (1882-1920), established many formulas for calculating the value of π.  Some were very complicated and had to wait for the advent of the computer to be appropriately used.  One such is:

Yet a much simpler formula that Ramanujan produced to calculate the value of π was . . .

which is correct to only eight decimal places, but is relatively easy to calculate.”