"Isaac Asimov - Feeling of Power" - читать интересную книгу автора (Asimov Isaac)

\pard\li245\sl15\slmult0 "No, sir," said Shuman patiently. "Not a paper comput-\par
\pard\li40\sl55\slmult0 er. Simply a sheet of paper. General, would you be so kind\par
\pard\li45\sl15\slmult0 as to suggest a number?"\par
\pard\li260 "Seventeen," said the general.\par
\pard\li255\sl15\slmult0 "And you, Congressman?"\par
\pard\li265\sl10\slmult0 "Twenty-three."\par
\pard\li260\sl20\slmult0 "Good! Aub, multiply those numbers and please show the\par
\pard\li60\sl15\slmult0 gentlemen your manner of doing it."\par
\pard\li270\sl15\slmult0 "Yes, Programmer," said Aub, ducking his head. He fished\par
\pard\li70\sl55\slmult0 a small pad out of one shirt pocket and an artist's hairline\par
\pard\li70 stylus out of the other. His forehead corrugated as he made\par
\pard\li75\sl10\slmult0 painstaking marks on the paper.\par
\pard\li285\sl15\slmult0 General Weider interrupted him sharply. "Let's see that."\par
\pard\li280\sl15\slmult0 Aub passed him the paper, and Weider said, "Well, it\par
\pard\li75\sl15\slmult0 looks like the figure seventeen."\par
\pard\li290\sl20\slmult0 Congressman Brant nodded and said, "So it does, but I\par
\pard\li85\sl60\slmult0 suppose anyone can copy figures off a computer. I think I\par
\pard\li90 could make a passable seventeen myself, even without prac-\par
\pard\li90\sl20\slmult0 tice."\par
\pard\li305\sl40\slmult0 "If you will let Aub continue, gentlemen," said Shuman\par
\pard\li90\sl20\slmult0 without heat.\par
\pard\li300\sl35\slmult0 Aub continued, his hand trembling a little. Finally he said\par
\pard\li100\sl20\slmult0 in a low voice, "The answer is three hundred and ninety-\par
\pard\li105\sl30\slmult0 one."\par
\pard\li315\sl35\slmult0 Congressman Brant took out his computer a second time\par
\pard\li120\sl25\slmult0 and flicked it. "By Godfrey, so it is. How did he guess?"\par
\pard\li315\sl30\slmult0 "No guess, Congressman," said Shuman. "He computed\par
\pard\li115\sl25\slmult0 that result. He did it on this sheet of paper."\par
\pard\li325\sl35\slmult0 "Humbug," said the general impatiently. "A computer is\par
\pard\li125\sl65\slmult0 one thing and marks on paper are another."\par
\pard\li335 "Explain, Aub," said Shuman.\par
\pard "Yes, Programmer.Well, gentlemen, I write down seven-\fs24\par
\pard\li20\fs18 teen and just underneath it, I write twenty-three. Next I say\par
\pard\li25\sl20\slmult0 to myself: seven times three"\par
\pard\li215 The Congressman interrupted smoothly, "Now, Aub, the\par
\pard\li20\sl20\slmult0 problem is seventeen times twenty-three."\par
\pard\li220\sl10\slmult0 "Yes, I know," said the little Technician earnestly, "but I\par
\pard\li25\sl40\slmult0\i start\i0 by saying seven times three because that's the way it\par
\pard\li20 works. Now seven times three is twenty-one."\par
\pard\li225\sl15\slmult0 "And how do you know that?" asked the Congressman.\par
\pard\li220\sl15\slmult0 "I just remember it. It's always fwenty-one on the computer.\par
\pard\li20\sl15\slmult0 I've checked it any number of times."\par
\pard\li220\sl10\slmult0 "That doesn't mean it always will be though, does it?"\par
\pard\li20\sl15\slmult0 said the Congressman.\par
\pard\li220\sl20\slmult0 "Maybe not," stammered Aub. "I'm not a mathematician.\par
\pard\li25\sl15\slmult0 But I always get the right answers, you see."\par
\pard\li220\sl10\slmult0 "Go on."\par
\pard\li225\sl15\slmult0 "Seven times three is twenty-one, so I write down twenty-\par
\pard\li20\sl55\slmult0 one. Then one times three is three, so I write down a\par
\pard\li25 three under the two of twenty-one."\par