We old engineers sometimes found “trial and error” solutions by the Newton-Raphson method using a bamboo sliderule and our designs proved to be viable. We were slow but well versed in many phases of engineering.
New graduates are specialized and sit in front of a computer and use canned programs to make sophisticated calculations and are sometimes not even sure if their answers are correct.
I have noticed that many people have no “feel” for numbers. If they use a calculator to multiply 41 x 82 and they enter it incorrectly and the answer comes up 336200 they are apt to think that is correct. I learned arithmetic the old way long ago and it instantly flashes in my mind that 40 x 80 is 3200 so there is no way the answer could be six figures long. Terms like 1/4, .25, .250, 0.25, 25% etc. all look the same to me, some people seem to need a calculator and a book to figure out that 1/4 of a pound is the same thing as .25 x 1 pound or 25% of a pound and all are equal to four ounces.
Amazingly enough to me most adults don’t seem to know how many feet are in a land mile, let alone a nautical mile. When I was in grade school I learned that a land mile is 5,280 ft. and a nautical mile is 6000. I could not forget those if I tried, if I ever cannot remember them I will know that I am entering dementia.
“We old engineers sometimes found “trial and error” solutions by the Newton-Raphson method using a bamboo sliderule and our designs proved to be viable. We were slow but well versed in many phases of engineering.”
Who the hell are you to talk. What did you guys ever accomplish (other than landing on the moon, building the SR71 in 3 years...and earlier, atomic bombs and Hoover Dam). We’re much better now, we have Solyndra and Enron to speak for our accomplishments.
Friend of mine worked for NASA. they had a Slide rule in a minature fire extinguisher case mounted on the wall under a sign that said: "In Case if Power failure Break Glass."