Re: Can a Big Boy pull a 5 mile long train? (Some math content)

My sophomore year of high school was the last year students were required to learn how to use slide rules. I never got the hang of using one. My junior year in high school my best friend and I went in on a TI calculator together. We had our math and science classes together so it worked out. Our teachers let us use it so long as we cleared the answer before we handed over (Had to hold it up with the answer cleared - teacher would nod go ahead).

We were hardly the only kids who did this.

Sharing calculators would never happen today. Kids wouldn't stand for it and neither would teachers.

I should clarify I went to a strict parochial school. A rap across the knuckles for the slightest offense kept us in line. Cheating was not worth it.

My friend majored in business and math. I majored in history and education. We both played college basketball at different colleges. So, he got the calculator and I was glad to let him have it. Being a business major, he declared it had depreciated in value during the past two years so he only owed me ten bucks.

Now my smart phone has a calculator, the internet, Kindle books, video camera, still camera, etc. Times and technology sure have changed.