[LMB] OT: 1st SF

[Tzivia Adler]

all this asimov fact/fiction stories remind me that -every single- person in 
my eigth grade class read at least one of his stories. it was set in the far 
future, computers were everywehre, and people had forgotton how to do the 
simplest math.  then one man came up with an amazing thing! if you add some 
numbers by hand, hte answer comes out the same every time!  you don't need 
your hand-held computer!  he took his discovery to the government, and they 
had him shot for dangerous ideas.

an amazing idea to put into a school reader.  and this was before the time 
that cash registers had buttons for items, a la mcdonalds today, instead of 
just numbers.  people actually did have to do the math then.  i wonder if it 
seems so fiction-y today?

ziviya, going to check if nesbit and eager are still on the shelves in the 
basement :)