Harvey Houtkin grew up amid humble beginnings in Sheepshead Bay Brooklyn. He was always extremely good with numbers. He went on to college and upon graduating headed for Wall Street. In a back-office department, he was responsible for calculating accrued interest on bond trades. This was a laborious task done with primitive electro-mechanical adding machines. When the electronic calculator was introduced, Harvey immediately saw its potential to streamline the department. He pursuaded his boss to buy several of the then $3000 units, and began a wave of automation on Wall Street that continues to this day. Harvey moved up and...