Noesis

 

 

 

The Journal of the Mega Society

 

 

September 2004                  Issue 173

 


 

 

 

Officers

 

Editor and Publisher:                           Ron Yannone

189 Ash Street #2

Nashua, NH 03060

 

Administrator:                                     Jeff Ward

13155 Wimberly Square

San Diego, CA 92128

 

Internet Officer:                                    Kevin Langdon

P.O. Box 795

Berkeley, CA 94701

 

Founder:                                             Ronald K. Hoeflin

P.O. Box 539

New York, NY 10101

 

 

no·e·sisGreek Þ understanding – to perceive.  Psychology Þ the cognitive process

 

The Mega Society was founded in 1982 and has been documented in the GUINNESS BOOK OF WORLD RECORDS during the 1980s as the most exclusive society.  Mega means million and denotes the one-in-a-million status of its members.   Presently, the only viable adult-level admissions test is the Titan Test, developed by its founder, Ron Hoeflin – where 43/48 correct answers corresponds to the minimum accepted IQ level of 176.  See www.megasociety.org  Since its GUINNESS “distinction” in the 1980’s, the Mega Society with its 99.9999 percentile member status, remains “the most elite ultra-high IQ Society.”

Editorial Introduction to NOESIS Issue #173 – September 2004

 

 

Greetings avid readers of Noesis – the exciting, ever-changing, journal of the Mega Society!

 

The closing issues for 2004 of Noesis will be “thinner.”  This is due to (a) my increased professional work activities; (b) scheduled travel to Germany for three-plus weeks in October/November; (c) the upcoming holiday season (Thanksgiving, Christmas); (d) frantically reviewing the final draft galleys of the AMC (American Mathematics Competitions); and (e) developing the new IEWS Fellows Newsletter for BAE Systems IEWS – with its debut release in December.  My role as editor for Noesis spawned a terrific idea to meet a special need at work.  I will be assembling input from the Company’s two dozen (or so) Engineering & Scientific Fellows – spanning a dozen diverse topic areas.

 

I entreat our readers to submit their enticing articles to me for Noesis using Microsoft WORD – preferably by email. The alternative would be a floppy diskette, ZIP diskette, or CD via Pony Express.  I do not have a scanner – and local print shop prices are high.  Scanning a simple color photo, for example, cost $10.

 

I plan to merge the last two issues of Noesis - #174 (October) and #175 (November) – and I hope to distribute this combined compilation some time in November – covering the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.

 

We “open” the time for members to either vote for responsible members, or to volunteer for, the new Editor and/or Publisher of Noesis for fiscal year 2005!  We certainly would feel bad if January and February came around and we did not have these vital positions filled.  To expedite information dissemination to members, email will be used to thwart dependence and delays upon the journal to do this and because there is one last ‘combined’ issue of Noesis to be distributed in November.

 

We should also vote on the positions of Administrator and Internet Officer.  Presently, Jeff Ward and Kevin Langdon are filling these responsible positions, respectively.  Jeff and Kevin may elect to volunteer for their positions for 2005 as well.  We’ll see!  So please (members) send your votes to Administrator Jeff Ward for new officers for 2005 – Editor, Publisher, Administrator, and Internet Officer as soon as possible.  Jeff Ward – please send me “voting preference counts” from our members (via email and/or Pony Express) so that I can present the data in the forthcoming issue of Noesis.

 

Now let’s move on to Noesis issue #173 – September!

 

We open this historical issue of Noesis by congratulating our newest member into the Mega Society – Mr. Glen Wooten from Las Vegas, Nevada – location for the famous television series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.  Glen comes into the Mega Society via the Titan Test.  See article Let’s Welcome our Newest Member to the Mega Society!”

 

Next, we look at a startling problem that engulfs the world – commercial aircraft defense!  With the proliferation of man-portable weapons today around the world, commercial aircraft are ‘easy’ targets.  We introduce one “solution” for this perplexing problem via the article Flying the Unfriendly Skies: Missile Defenses for Civilian Aircraft.”

 

In a timely recent announcement August 26th, in partial “answer” to the above commercial aircraft dilemma, we present BAE SYSTEMS IEWS wins $45M Counter-MANPADS Award.”

 

Next, courtesy of New Hampshire’s Hudson~Litchfield News, we present Summertime Tax Tips From IRS.”

 

Next, we introduce our readers to Dr. Nancy Melucci’s new book titled “Psychology – The Easy Way – via an article titled: “Thinking, Language, and Intelligence.”

 

Eugene Jackson and Adolph Geiger purport they have a forty-year record of making it easy to learn the German language in their book titled: “German Made Simple.”  In the article “ ‘German Made Simple’ – let’s test it!,” we “test” their claim via a ‘matching test’ version of one of their lessons for our readers to try.

 

We want to remind our readers of the staggering “hiring frenzy” due to the 9/11 event, the war in Iraq, and global terrorism – via the ad National Security Agency To Hire 1,500 People by September 2004.”

 

Stumbling on neet ideas by accident – isn’t always by accident.  You will recall Mega Society member Richard May’s short biography in Noesis issue #172 (August).  It turns out the biography presented was ‘all’ there – but partially visible to our astute readers!  The unveiling process of Richard’s full biography will amaze you as you read “Sending Secrets without Sophisticated Encryption.”

 

Theoni Pappas is committed to giving mathematics greater exposure and making it more approachable to people – young and old.  In the article “Math-a-Day” we present a few sample problems and quotes by famous people in Theoni’s book titled “Math-a-Day.”

 

We’ve heard the phrase “A swarm of bees.”  Here we challenge our nearly-omniscient readers to fill in the blank for different “groups” of animals.  Don’t be surprised if you have considerable difficulty – as you sharpen your mental pencils, reading “Animal Group Names.”

 

The editor is a pack-rat and collects many odds-and-ends.  Of these are math puzzles from a number of sources.  We share the problem statements (only) in this issue for our enthusiastic puzzle-masters to crunch and meditate on – in the article “Challenging Math Puzzles from the Editor’s Treasure Chest.”

 

After the conference in Dresden, Germany in October, I hope to tour the famous Glashuette Original watch factory in Saxony – about a 45-minute car drive south of Dresden.  We share a glimpse of the excitement in the article by Marcus Hanke titled A visit to the Glashuette Original factory.”  The second watch facility in Saxony I hope to visit is A. Lange & Söhne.  Glashuette Original and A. Lange & Söhne are the leading German watchmakers today - and are among the leading watchmakers in the world.

 

My favorite wrist watch happens to be a Glashutte OriginalSenator Watch with Panorama Date and Moon Phase Display – 18kt rose gold case.’  Although I’ve never owned one, I am pleased to append the above article with “Watch of the Year 2000” to give you a peek.

 

N. E. Genge is author of the very readable book titled “The Forensics Casebook: The Science of Crime Scene Investigation (CSI).”  The editor has been intrigued by forensics via television programs Quincy and CSI – Las Vegas.  The use of DNA is critical in crime scene investigations.  Here, the reader will learn interesting facts of the use of DNA in the article titled: Forensics – the DNA Fingerprint.  The editor also shares a few job descriptions referenced in Genge’s book – for our readers to consider – for themselves or someone they know.  Did you know that an Associate Chief Medical Examiner can earn up to $170,000 a year!

 

We close this intriguing issue of Noesis with the educational article Quotes on Learning” by Joe Griffith – author of “Speaker’s Library of Business Stories, Anecdotes, and Humor.”


NOESIS Journal – September 2004 – Issue #173

 

 

CONTENTS

#

TITLE

AUTHOR

PAGE

1

Let’s Welcome our Newest Member to the Mega Society!

Mega members

5

2

FLYING THE UNFRIENDLY SKIES: Missile Defenses for Civilian Aircraft

Military.com

6

3

BAE SYSTEMS IEWS wins $45M Counter-MANPADS Award

DHS

9

4

Summertime Tax Tips From IRS

Hudson/Litchfield News

10

5

Thinking, Language, and Intelligence

Nancy Melucci

11

6

“German Made Simple” – let’s test it!

Editor/Jackson/Geiger

16

7

National Security Agency To Hire 1,500 People by September 2004

NSA

17

8

Thinking, Language, and Intelligence - Answers

Nancy Melucci

18

9

Sending Secrets without Sophisticated Encryption

Editor & R. May

21

10

Math-a-Day

Theoni Pappas

23

11

Math-a-Day - Answers

Theoni Pappas

24

12

Math-a-Day Û Selected Quotes

Theoni Pappas

25

13

Animal Group Names

Editor

27

14

Challenging Math Puzzles from the Editor’s Treasure Chest

Editor

28

15

A Visit to the Glashuette Original Factory

Marcus Hanke

30

16

"Watch of the Year 2000"

Glashutte Original

33

17

Forensics – the DNA Fingerprint

N. E. Genge

36

18

Animal Group Names

Editor

40

19

Quotes on Learning

Joe Griffith

41

20

“German Made Simple” – let’s test it! - Answers

Editor/Jackson/Geiger

45

 

 

From Mega Society Member [Chris Harding] (Australia):  By the way, many years ago you were interested in a MEGA LEVEL BOOK OF PUZZLES.  Why don't we start now?  By “we” I mean the members who have an interest in this sort of thing.  Best Regards, Chris Harding.  [Editor] Members: is there anyone who desires to champion (and finance) this activity?  I know I would be able to contribute some problems/puzzles – but that would be about it.  Let me know – and I can notify Chris Harding in Australia.  Thanks!

 

 

 


Let’s Welcome our Newest Member to the Mega Society!

Glen Wootenfrom Las Vegas, Nevada

 

 

  Frisbee

  Reading

  Psychometrics

  Life Extension Science

  Nutrition

  Weigh Lifting

  Mathematics

  B.A. Psychology

  Philosophy/Economics

 

 

 

Glen Wooten resides in Las Vegas, Nevada.  Per Glen’s recent email:

 

 

 

Congratulations Glen!

The newest member of the Mega Society

Wunderbar!

 

 

I’m an undergraduate student at UNLV presently majoring in mathematics (with minors in philosophy and economics).  I already have a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology.  I’m a perennial bachelor by choice, though I do have an amazing daughter named Jennifer.  I’m a self-taught musician and especially enjoy playing guitar.  Among my innumerable interests are Frisbee, reading, psychometrics, life extension science, nutrition, and lifting weights.

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 


FLYING THE UNFRIENDLY SKIES: Missile Defenses for Civilian Aircraft

 

(http://www.military.com/soldiertech/0,14632,SoldierTech_MissileDef,,00.html?ESRC=soldiertech.nl )

 

 

It's the ultimate traveler's nightmare -- a defenseless, unprotected civilian aircraft being targeted by terrorist missiles. But a new project may finally provide some much needed protection for non-military planes.

 

 

 

 

 

The Brightening Project. Israeli authorities have decided how they're going to stop attacks from shoulder-fired missiles: by zapping them with high-energy lasers.

 

 

 

It's a scenario that may have seemed far-fetched a few decades ago, but in the age of terrorism, and in the wake of 9/11, it seems too chillingly plausible: terrorists using surface-to-air missiles (SAM) to take out unprotected civilian aircraft. Want some stats? Rotor & Wings magazine states that during the 1991 Persian Gulf War, 12 of the 29 American aircraft lost during combat operations were believed to have been shot down by man-portable Iraqi SA-16 Iglas. During their conflicts in Afghanistan, the Russians have suffered even greater losses, with more than 250 aircraft falling victim to Stinger missiles. And these were military aircraft -- imagine the damage that could be done to civilian planes, especially in public areas like airports.

Israel has had the misfortune of encountering this problem on numerous occasions, including two recent notable attacks against Israeli aircraft -- one in Kenya in 2002, and one in Mozambique in 2003 -- by terrorists using shoulder fired short range IR guided surface to air missiles.

With an obvious vested interest in protecting against such attacks, the Israeli government, through Raphael, a research branch of the Israeli Defense Ministry, has begun developing the technology necessary to protect civilian aircraft from these threats -- technology that may be applied universally to all civilian airlines in the future. One such device is the Britening project.


 

Britening the Skies


On the face of it, you might think that equipping civilian aircraft with missile defense systems is a bit absurd -- if an aircraft needs a missile defense system, wouldn't it be more prudent, not to mention cheaper, for it to avoid war-torn areas where it is likely to get shot at? But as recent events have shown us, shoulder fired infrared (IR) missiles are easily transportable, simple to operate, and, against undefended aircraft like a 747, brutally lethal. There are very few airports worldwide where it is not possible to attack an aircraft with one. So other than just praying, the obvious option is to develop a defensive system to protect civilian aircraft. These defensive systems need not be as sophisticated as those currently in service on military aircraft (shoulder fired SAM such as the Stinger and the soviet made SA-7 are not nearly as sophisticated as radar-guided missiles such as the Patriot or the SA-6 Gainful), but rather, they are specifically meant to meet the threat posed by short-ranged IR weapons.

 

 

 

Brightening Project: The Skinny

 

Name: Brightening Project

Purpose: To protect civilian aircraft from surface-to air missile threats

How It Works:

*       The Missile Warning and Tracking system (MWTS) detects and tracks incoming missiles thanks to the four IR/UV sensors located around the aircraft.

*       Once it supplies an accurate direction of the threat's location, the MWTS data is processed by the system controller, which verifies the threat and operates the Directional IR Counter-measures System (DIRCM).

*       The DIRCM system's laser fires a beam of energy into the missile's guidance system, in effect "blinding" it

 

 

So how to provide adequate countermeasures against enemy SAMs? The key is the aircraft's infrared signature, which an enemy missile's seeker acquires and locks onto. Variations in IR signature are different among different aircraft -- Wright Patterson AFB has stated that if a helicopter (AH-64) has an IR signature of 1, a turboprop transport (C-130) would be 10, a tactical fighter (F-16) would be 35, and a large jet transport (C-17) would be 100. The other important point is to provide adequate protection for when an aircraft is most vulnerable - during takeoff, landing, and taxiing.

Enter Britening, a laser based IR missile decoy system with two central components: a Missile Warning and Tracking system (MWTS) that includes four electro-optic infrared sensors, and a Directional IR Counter-measures System (DIRCM) that contains a laser turret. The MWTS detects and tracks incoming missiles thanks to the four IR/UV sensors located around the aircraft. These missile launch warning sensors detect the thermal "bloom" associated with the missile's rocket motor. The system is passive rather than active, cutting down on microwave interference with other systems on board and on the ground. Once it supplies an accurate direction of the threat's location, the MWTS data is processed by the system controller, which verifies the threat and operates the directional IR countermeasures.

That's when the DIRCM system and its solid-state, turret-mounted laser comes in. Once the MWTS' telemetry is fed to the turret-mounted laser, the laser fires a beam of energy into the missile's guidance system, in effect "blinding" it. Britening can also steer the missile off axis by moving the laser within the missile's field of view, in effect giving the missile a "hotter" target to track than the aircraft.

Sounds like an awful lot to process, especially when an enemy missile is bearing down on you, but thanks to its advanced control and sensor systems, Britening is capable of handling multiple threats within a fraction of a second. The Brightening system is expected to be operational in 2005 and available for retrofitting into existing airframes.

These capabilities certainly come at a cost -- the Britening system is expected to cost $2 million a unit, and studies conducted by American defense contractors forecast similar prices for a U.S. built system -- to the tune of an estimated $7 billion to $10 billion, to cover all U.S. civilian jetliners.


Directional IR Counter-measures System (DIRCM)

 

Some lower-cost options include a "low-tech" version of Britening, in which flares are launched to attract the missile. However, those systems would need to depend on advance warning to the cockpit. Another way to mitigate costs would be to determine what areas present the greatest risk, and concentrate on equipping aircraft that fly those routes. Yet another is to make the system completely modular and require that all future aircraft constructed be built to accept such a defensive system, so that as airframes are retired or otherwise taken out of service the missile defense components can be easily unplugged from one aircraft and plugged into another.

 

Finally, one other option would be to build dedicated defensive aircraft which would patrol the airspace over selected airports. These dedicate SAMCAP aircraft, since their sole function would be defending the airspace from IR missiles, could carry even more sophisticated and powerful defensive systems (to include counter-attack capabilities) than would be practical for civilian passenger aircraft. The bottom line is that the threat to civilian aircraft is real and until the situation is addressed, they will continue to be at risk to shoulder fired IR missiles.


BAE SYSTEMS IEWS wins $45M Counter-MANPADS Award

by Department of Homeland Security

 

In an early issue of Noesis I presented a condensed list of world-level issues and topics: the same-sex marriage issue, the Martha Stewart ordeal, the war in Iraq, and global terrorism.  The last topic affects many of us and people we likely know and hold dear.  The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently announced a sizable award to BAE Systems – Information and Electronic Warfare Systems (IEWS) of $45M – for an extremely aggressive delivery schedule to protect commercial aircraft against threats posed by infrared guided missiles.

 

 

IEWS Proceeds to Phase II for
U.S. Commercial Airliner Protection

 

(August 26, 2004) — The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced Aug. 25 that Information & Electronic Warfare Systems (IEWS) has been selected to participate in Phase II of its Counter-MANPADS (Man-Portable Air Defense Systems) program to protect commercial aircraft against threats posed by infrared guided missiles.

The missiles, commonly called MANPADS, have been used to down civilian airliners and increasingly have become regarded as a potential terrorist tool since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

Under a $45 million DHS award, IEWS will develop, test and evaluate a prototype system using existing military and commercial technology. Phase II is expected to last 18 months, followed by a DHS recommendation to the Administration and Congress.

A team led by Northrop Grumman was also selected for Phase II.

“BAE Systems is extremely pleased be part of Phase II of the Counter-MANPADS program. We have put together the right team, including leaders in the commercial aviation industry, to produce a state-of-the-art IR missile protection system that leverages our proven military technology and fits seamlessly into the commercial airline industry,” said Don Donovan, president of the company’s Electronic Warfare/Electronic Protection line of business. “BAE Systems is proud to offer a solution to this critical national issue.”

IEWS originated counter-IR defense electronic technology in the early 1970s, and has delivered more than 14,000 countermeasure systems for the military. The IEWS proposal is based on the Advanced Threat Infrared Countermeasures and Common Missile Warning System. Developed for the U.S Army and currently in production, the system provides next-generation, directable, laser countermeasures for protection of aircraft against heat-seeking missiles.

IEWS’ team includes key partners Honeywell Aerospace, leading the operations and support elements; Sargent Fletcher, designing the pod which houses the missile warning and countermeasures components; and American Airlines, providing critical stakeholder perspective to ensure commercial compatibility.

 

 


Summertime Tax Tips From IRS

Courtesy of Hudson~Litchfield News July 23, 2004 – Volume 15, Number 3

 

Summertime may be get away time, but you can't get away from the tax implications that accompany most financial matters.  Being aware of the tax issues - and preparing yourself for some tax breaks - sure beats putting your head in the sand, even if you are at the beach.  So check out these tips for newlyweds, working students, and parents with children at day camp - and have a good summer!

  

Advice for Newlyweds:  Being, or marrying, a June bride may be a "Cloud Nine" experience, but there are some practical things to attend to when the honeymoon's over and you get your feet back on the ground.

 

·   Report any name change to the Social Security Administration, so your name and social security number will match when you file your next tax return.

·   Report any address change to the U.S. Postal Service - they'll forward your mail and let IRS know.  You may also notify the IRS directly by filing Form 8822, Change of Address.

·   Consider whether you'll file joint or separate returns,

·   If you're buying a home, find out which expenses may be deductible and which are not.

   Tips for Working Students:  All employees have income tax withheld from their pay, right? 

 

Not necessarily.  You may be exempt from withholding if: 

·   you can be claimed as a dependent (usually on a parent's return),

·   your total 2004 income will not be over $4,850,

·   your unearned income (interest, dividends, etc.) will not exceed $250, and

·   you had no income tax liability for 2003.

 

You'll still have to pay Social Security and Medicare taxes, but skipping unnecessary income tax withholding will put more money in your pocket now.  Read Form W-4 carefully before filling it out for your employer.

  

If customers tip you, those tips are taxable.  You must keep track of the amounts, include them on your tax return, and - if they total $20 or more in a month - report them to your employer by the middle of the next month.

  

See the IRS Web site: IRS.gov for more information, also check out Publication 531, Reporting Tip Income, Publication 1872, Tips on Tips (for food or beverage industry workers), and Form W-4, Employee's Withholding Allowance Certificate (with worksheets to figure how many allowances to claim).

  

Summer Day Camp:  Many working parents must arrange for care of their younger children during the school vacation period. A popular solution - with favorable tax consequences - is a day camp program.  Unlike overnight camps, the cost of day camp counts as an expense towards the child and dependent care credit.  Of course, even if your childcare provider is a sitter at your home, you'll get some tax benefit if you qualify for the credit.

 

You figure the credit on up to $3,000 of expenses, $6,000 for two or more children. The credit rate ranges from 20% to 35% of expenses, depending on your income. The 35% rate applies if your income is under $15,000; the 20% rate, if your income is over $43,000.

 

See the IRS Web site: www.IRS.gov for more information, also check out Publication 503, Child and Dependent Care Expenses.


Thinking, Language, and Intelligence

by Dr. Nancy Melucci – Long Beach City College, CA

 

Barron’s Educational Series continue to lead the industry in helpful study guides in a myriad of subjects.  A new Barron’s “The Easy Way series are black-color, soft cover guidebooks on various topics.  The one of interest at the moment is “Psychology – The Easy Way by Dr. Nancy J. Melucci – 2004, ISBN 0-7641-2393-9; USD $14.95, 360 pages.  The chapter on “Thinking, Language, and Intelligence” is the reference for this exercise-article.

 

Each chapter in Dr. Melucci’s well-written book has very helpful review sections:

 

  Self-Test Connection: Part A – Completion (fill in the sentence with key words of the chapter)

  Part B – Multiple Choice

  Part C – Modified True-False

  Part D – Matching (with several sections on the key topic concepts for the chapter)

  Connecting to Concepts – a set of thought/discussion questions

  Connecting to Life/Job Skills – excellent job-related material with URLs

  What’s Happening! – invigorating and contemporary section with URLs

  Other Useful Web Sites – up-to-date issues and URLs

  References – relating specifically to the chapter at hand

 

We start with a matching test – using some of the words from the table below.

 

abstraction

hereditability

primary mental abilities

algorithmic

heuristic

prototype

anchoring

insight

psychometric approach

Army Alpha/Beta tests

intelligence

reliable

artificial concepts

IQ

representativeness

attention

linguistic determination

representativeness bias

availability bias

linguistic relativity

Sapir-Whorf hypothesis

behaviorist

mean

savant syndrome

cognition

memes

standard deviation

cognitive map

mental representations

standardization

cognitive task

mental retardation

Stanford-Binet Test

compensatory

mental set

stereotypes

concepts

multiple intelligences

symbols

confirmation bias

nativist

syntax

construct

natural concepts

test construction

controlled task

normal (bell-shaped) curve

trial and error

crystallized intelligence

norms

triarchic theory of intelligence

fluid intelligence

observational learning

utilitarian

Flynn effect

overconfidence

valid

functional fixedness

polygenic

William’s syndrome

g

poverty of stimulus

¾

 

Self-Test Connection

Part A. Completion (fill in the sentence with key words of the chapter)

 

1. Another term for mental processes is _____.

2. _____ are mental categories, collections of events, people, objects, or other entities that share some important quality or feature.

3. How to play piano requires _____ memory.

4. _____ concepts are learned from experience.

5. _____ decision making involves the consideration of aspects or features of the different possible solutions or choices.

6. _____ are referred to as rule-of-thumb strategies that can help us make judgments and solve problems efficiently.

7. _____ heuristic (or bias) involves using the information that comes to mind first.

8. Our own overestimating of the accuracy of our beliefs and judgments and exaggerating the number of other people who see things the same way as we do is referred to as _____.

9. A(n) _____ effect occurs if we are given a “hint” or are supplied with information while making our decision or choice, which may influence our answer and which may make it more or less accurate.

10. _____ is your collection of beliefs, assumptions, and perspectives used to organize your thoughts.

11. The rules for using the symbols of language is _____ ; it is also known as grammar.

12. _____ is a score produced by tests that purport to measure intelligence.

13. _____ created the first intelligence test.

14. Charles Spearman produced the single-factor model of intelligence referred to as _____ - the general factor important for all intellectual tasks.

15. _____ developed one of the most widely administered intelligence scales in current use.  The test comes in a preschool, children’s, and adult version.

16. A person who is mentally retarded, but has an extraordinary ability for multiplication, is likely to have _____.

17. Sternberg’s triarchic theory of intelligence includes three types of intelligence, including analytic skills, practical skills, and _____.

18. Studies of infants raised in orphanages demonstrate the influence of _____ on the development of intelligence.

19. _____ refers to the extent to which differences among people are attributable to genes.

20. Research that suggests that different cultures have different notions of what constitutes intelligence would support the idea that intelligence is culture-_____.

21. Research that suggests that intelligence in certain domains is important in all cultures would support the notion that intelligence is context-_____.

22. A test can be reliable but not _____ ; if it is not reliable, it cannot possibly be _____.

23. A test that appears to measure what it claims to measure has high _____ validity.

24. _____ developed the IQ tests for the U.S. military, known as the Army Alpha and Beta tests.

25. A score in the range of _____ to _____ would be considered low average.

 

Part B. Multiple Choice

Circle the letter of the item that correctly completes the statement. (Editor: we use several of the questions posed.)

 

1. Cognitive maps allow for which of the following types of cognition?

    (a) Creating     (b) Remembering   (c) Interpreting   (d) Problem-solving

2. Which of the following is not one of the five categories of decision-making and problem-solving strategies?

    (a) Compensatory   (b) Trial and error   (c) Heuristic   (d) Prototype

3. Which is a special feature of language that makes human language unique?

    (a) Symbols   (b) Abstraction   (c) Syntax   (d) All of the above

4. Which is an example of crystallized intelligence?

    (a) Reasoning   (b) Problem solving   (c) Social rules   (d) Applying new knowledge

5. Who of the following did not develop a theory of multiple intelligences?

    (a) Sternberg   (b) Thurstone   (c) Gardner   (d) Spearman

6. What is another word for reliable?

    (a) Consistent   (b) Independent   (c) Dependent   (d) Generalizable

7. A test of mathematical achievement should have questions that actually test all of the following except _____ .    (a) addition   (b) engineering   (c) subtraction   (d) calculus

8. The test that includes examples of all problems or items in the domain it purports to assess has good ____ validity.  (a) construct   (b) content (c) predictive   (d) face

9. Why did Binet and Simon develop the first IQ tests?

(a) To provide “evidence” to parents as to why their children were being held back in school

(b) To help the public schools identify students who would require special educational interventions

(c) To identify youth who needed accelerated classrooms

(d) To keep low-achieving youth out of school

10. Who was responsible for updating the Binet-Simon IQ test to the Stanford-Binet IQ Test?

    (a) Terman   (b) Simon (c) Binet   (d) Freud

11. Which of the following tests is the most culture-free?

    (a) Stanford-Binet IQ Test

    (b) The Wechsler Scales

    (c) Scholastic Assessment Test

    (d) Raven’s Progressive Matrices

 

Part C. Modified True-False

If the statement is true, write “T” for the answer.  If the statement is incorrect, change the underlined expression to one that will make the statement true. (Editor: we use several of the questions posed.)

 

1. Mental representations are symbols, language, concepts, and images.

2. Remembering what you wore yesterday requires procedural memory.

3. The behaviorist view assumes that mental abilities allow one to learn from experience and function successfully in one’s environment.

4. Thurstone’s concept of g was based on seven intellectual skill groups.

5. Raymond Cattell, in his multiple intelligences theory, suggested that there are seven separate types of intelligence.

6. Most scientific evidence suggests that intelligence is stable from about age 18 onward.

7. The controversial book The Bell Curve (1994) by Richard Herrstein and Charles Murray take a strong nature stance on intelligence.

8. The purpose of the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) is to predict high school performance.

 

Part D. Matching

Place a name of the concept related to thinking next to correct example of that concept. (Editor: we use about half of the questions posed in the next four sections.)

 

Thinking

 

confirmation bias                                                insight                                    atypical example

algorithm                                               prototype                               representativeness bias

cognitive map                                       heuristic                                                availability bias

functional fixedness

 

1. Someone says “insect,” and you think of a fly. _____

2. The way from your house to your best friend’s house “in your head.” _____

3. Someone says “insect,” and you think of a walking stick. _____

4. Your friend thinks all engineering students are boring and don’t like to socialize. _____

5. You could have used your key to cut the tape on a tightly wrapped package if you’d only thought of it. _____

 

Language

 

euphemism                                          symbols                                                phonemes

poverty of stimulus                              suggestibility                        syntax

abstraction                                            nativism                                 memes

linguistic determinism

 

1. Words, numbers, pictographs, hieroglyphics, sounds, and manual signs are all examples of these. _____

2. You can talk about truth and justice using words, although you can’t see them. _____

3. Tra-, sho-, and ma- are all examples of these. _____

4. Children learn an enormous amount of language with very little training. _____

5. A sin of memory that may be triggered by use of language. _____

 

Scientists in the History of Intelligence Theory and Testing

 

Sternberg                                              Spearman                                             Kamin

Anastasi                                                                Binet                                                       Guilford

Thurstone                                             Jensen                                                  Gardner

Cattell

 

1. He was one of the two persons who created the first IQ test. _____

2. She cataloged a vast number of IQ and other psychological tests. _____

3. He proposed the existence of two types of g – crystallized and fluid. _____

4. He proposed the existence of eight primary mental abilities. _____

5. He proposed the theory of multiple intelligences. _____

6. He wrote the controversial book Bias in Mental Testing. _____

 

Intelligence Theory and Testing

 

creative                                                  valid                                        representative

standard deviation                              norms                                    psychometric

crystallized                                            g                                              linguistic

hereditability

 

1. This is the theory that intelligence can be measured. _____

2. This is the term for a unitary general intelligence factor. _____

3. A person who is good at writing and expression through words would have this kind of intelligence according to Gardner. _____

4. These are the scores that are achieved by the original sample that takes a test. _____

5. This is another term for the typical or “average” difference between a score on a test and the mean score. _____

 

Connecting To Concepts – (Editor: one question)

 

1. Define heuristic, and give an example of a problem that you face in everyday life that lends itself to the use of heuristics.  Which type(s) of heuristics have you used, or might you use?

 

Connecting To Life/Job Skills

 

Tips for better test taking: University of St. Thomas

www.iss.stthomas.edu/studyguides/tsttak1.html

 

Collections of Test Preparation Links –

www.eop.mu.edu/study/index.html

www.osi.fsu.edu/hot/testtaking/skills.html

 

Improving Your Test Taking Skills –

www.ericae.net/pare/getvn.asp?v=1&n=2

 

What’s Happening!

 

Social Psychology Network –

www.steele.socialpsychology.org/

 

Claude Steele’s Homepage –

www.stanford.edu/~jbonham/steele/


Other Useful Web Sites

 

Creativity Web –

www.ozemail.com.au/~cavemen/Creative/  Û This commercial site is a “mental gymnasium” dedicated to the improvement of problem solving and creative thought.

 

The Bell Curve – This Indiana University web site provides an overview of the controversial 1994 book by Murray and Herrstein.

www.indiana.edu/~intell/bellcurve.html

 

History of Intelligence Testing – Also sponsored by Indiana University, this web site provides comprehensive information about the history of, and history behind, IQ testing and psychometrics.  www.indiana.edu/~intell/index.html

 

References – (Editor – two of six)

 

1. Chomsky, N. (1965) Cartesian Linguistics. New York: Harper and Row.

2. Pinker, S. (2000) The Language Instinct: How the mind Creates Language.  Boston: Perennial.

 


“German Made Simple” – let’s test it!

by Editor, Eugene Jackson and Adolph Geiger

 

 

With over ½ million copies sold, the revised (by Robert D. Vanderslice) edition of “German Made Simple” by Eugene Jackson and Adolph Geiger is purported to have a forty-year record of making it easy to learn the German language.  I figured we give them a try!  I selected one lesson and created a ‘matching test’ to exercise the Publisher’s stamp: “Made Simple Books.”  The 8½-inch by 11-inch by ½-inch thick, 190-page paperback book is USD $12.95, originally published in 1965 by Doubleday, a division of Random House, Inc.; ISBN 0-385-19911-2.  We hope to present another ‘matching’ test in the combined Noesis issue #174 (October)/#175 (November).

 

WER IST HERR CLARK?

WHO IS MR. CLARK?

1

Robert Clark ist Kaufmann.

 

However, he does not live in New York.

2

Er ist Amerikaner.

 

Mr. Clark is married.

3

Er ist kein Deutscher.

 

Mr. and Mrs. Clark have four children, two boys and two girls.

4

Sein Buro ist in New York.

 

Mr. Clark is forty years old.

5

Er wohnt aber nicht in New York.

 

Anna does not go to school.

6

Der Vorort, wo die Familie Clark wohnt, ist nicht weit von New York.

 

His wife is thirty-six years old.

7

Herr Clark ist verheiratet.

 

Charles is twelve years old.

8

Seine Frau heisst Helene Clark.

 

All except Anna go to school.

9

Herr und Frau Clark haben vier Kinder, zwei Knaben und zwei Madchen.

 

He is not a German.

10

Die Knaben heissen Karl und Wilhelm.

 

He is an American.

11

Die Madchen heissen Marie und Anna.

 

Mary is eight years old.

12

Herr Clark ist vierzig Jahre alt.

 

She is still too young for school.

13

Seine Frau ist sechsunddreissig Jahre alt.

 

Anna is five years old.

14

Karl ist zwolf Jahre alt.

 

Robert Clark is a merchant.

15

Wilhelm ist zehn Jahre alt.

 

The girls are named Mary and Anna.

16

Marie ist acht Jahre alt.

 

The suburb where the Clark family lives is not far from New York.

17

Anna ist funf Jahre alt.

 

His wife’s name is Helen Clark.

18

Alle ausser Anna gehen zur Schule.

 

The boys are named Charles and William.

19

Anna geht nicht zur Schule.

 

His office is in New York.

20

Sie ist noch zu jung fur die Schule.

 

William is ten years old.

pages 22-23.

 

 

One of my engineer friends smilingly said at dinner last May in regards to languages:

 

“German is like a ‘computer’ language, Italian like ‘poetry.’ ”

 

 

 


NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY

CENTRAL SECURITY SERVICE

FORT GEORGE G. MEADE, MARYLAND 20755-6000

NSA Media Advisory
7 April 2004
For further information, contact:
NSA Public and Media Affairs,
301-688-6524

 

 

 

 

National Security Agency
To Hire 1,500 People by September 2004

 

The National Security Agency intends to hire approximately 1,500 people by September 2004 in an effort to meet the increasing needs of the ever-changing Intelligence Community. Under the direction of the newly appointed chief of Human Resources, Mr. John Taflan, the Agency is looking to increase the number of new hires by 1,500 per year for the next five years, which would be an unprecedented event for NSA.

Mr. Taflan and his team are looking for people who are experienced in foreign language, especially in Arabic and Chinese; intelligence analysis; signals analysis; the technical fields (mathematics, computer science, engineering and physical sciences); and acquisition. Non-technical jobs are also available, and job seekers are encouraged to submit their resumes on our web site at www.nsa.gov. This is the largest recruiting effort since the 1980s, and NSA is averaging about three new employees a day with an increase to four to six a day in the summer months.

The National Security Agency offers outstanding opportunities to its employees including work affecting national security and working with the latest technology. Additional benefits include flexible schedules, travel possibilities, federal benefits, educational opportunities, and the chance to work with a diverse group of people.

Mr. Taflan is available for interview by contacting the Public and Media Affairs Office at 301-688-6524 or by emailing nsapao@nsa.gov.

 

America's Codemakers and Codebreakers

 


Thinking, Language, and Intelligence - Answers

by Dr. Nancy Melucci – Long Beach City College, CA

 

 

Self-Test Connection

Part A. Completion (fill in the sentence with key words of the chapter)

 

1. Another term for mental processes is thinking (or cognition).

2. Concepts are mental categories, collections of events, people, objects, or other entities that share some important quality or feature.

3. How to play piano requires implicit (or procedural) memory.

4. Natural concepts are learned from experience.

5. Compensatory decision making involves the consideration of aspects or features of the different possible solutions or choices.

6. Heuristics are referred to as rule-of-thumb strategies that can help us make judgments and solve problems efficiently.

7. Availability heuristic (or bias) involves using the information that comes to mind first.

8. Our own overestimating of the accuracy of our beliefs and judgments and exaggerating the number of other people who see things the same way as we do is referred to as overconfidence.

9. A(n) anchoring effect occurs if we are given a “hint” or are supplied with information while making our decision or choice, which may influence our answer and which may make it more or less accurate.

10. Mental set is your collection of beliefs, assumptions, and perspectives used to organize your thoughts.

11. The rules for using the symbols of language is syntax ; it is also known as grammar.

12. IQ is a score produced by tests that purport to measure intelligence.

13. Binet and Simon created the first intelligence test.

14. Charles Spearman produced the single-factor model of intelligence referred to as g - the general factor important for all intellectual tasks.

15. The Wechsler scales developed one of the most widely administered intelligence scales in current use.  The test comes in a preschool, children’s, and adult version.

16. A person who is mentally retarded, but has an extraordinary ability for multiplication, is likely to have savant syndrome.

17. Sternberg’s triarchic theory of intelligence includes three types of intelligence, including analytic skills, practical skills, and creative skills.

18. Studies of infants raised in orphanages demonstrate the influence of environment on the development of intelligence.

19. Hereditability refers to the extent to which differences among people are attributable to genes.

20. Research that suggests that different cultures have different notions of what constitutes intelligence would support the idea that intelligence is culture-bound.

21. Research that suggests that intelligence in certain domains is important in all cultures would support the notion that intelligence is context-free.

22. A test can be reliable but not valid ; if it is not reliable, it cannot possibly be valid.

23. A test that appears to measure what it claims to measure has high internal validity.

24. Goddard developed the IQ tests for the U.S. military, known as the Army Alpha and Beta tests.

25. A score in the range of 80 to 89 would be considered low average.

 

Part B. Multiple Choice

Circle the letter of the item that correctly completes the statement. (Editor: we use several of the questions posed.)

 

1. Cognitive maps allow for which of the following types of cognition?

    (a) Creating      (b) Remembering   (c) Interpreting   (d) Problem-solving

2. Which of the following is not one of the five categories of decision-making and problem-solving strategies?

    (a) Compensatory   (b) Trial and error   (c) Heuristic   (d) Prototype

3. Which is a special feature of language that makes human language unique?

    (a) Symbols   (b) Abstraction   (c) Syntax   (d) All of the above

4. Which is an example of crystallized intelligence?

    (a) Reasoning   (b) Problem solving   (c) Social rules   (d) Applying new knowledge

5. Who of the following did not develop a theory of multiple intelligences?

    (a) Sternberg   (b) Thurstone   (c) Gardner   (d) Spearman

6. What is another word for reliable?

    (a) Consistent   (b) Independent   (c) Dependent   (d) Generalizable

7. A test of mathematical achievement should have questions that actually test all of the following except _____ .    (a) addition   (b) engineering   (c) subtraction   (d) calculus

8. The test that includes examples of all problems or items in the domain it purports to assess has good ____ validity.  (a) construct   (b) content (c) predictive   (d) face

9. Why did Binet and Simon develop the first IQ tests?

(a) To provide “evidence” to parents as to why their children were being held back in school

(b) To help the public schools identify students who would require special educational interventions

(c) To identify youth who needed accelerated classrooms

(d) To keep low-achieving youth out of school

10. Who was responsible for updating the Binet-Simon IQ test to the Stanford-Binet IQ Test?

    (a) Terman   (b) Simon (c) Binet   (d) Freud

11. Which of the following tests is the most culture-free?

    (a) Stanford-Binet IQ Test

    (b) The Wechsler Scales

    (c) Scholastic Assessment Test

    (d) Raven’s Progressive Matrices

 

Part C. Modified True-False

If the statement is true, write “T” for the answer.  If the statement is incorrect, change the underlined expression to one that will make the statement true. (Editor: we use several of the questions posed.)

 

1. Mental representations are symbols, language, concepts, and images. [True]

2. Remembering what you wore yesterday requires procedural memory. [False – declarative (or explicit)]

3. The behaviorist view assumes that mental abilities allow one to learn from experience and function successfully in one’s environment. [True]

4. Thurstone’s concept of g was based on seven intellectual skill groups. [False – primary mental abilities]

5. Raymond Cattell, in his multiple intelligences theory, suggested that there are seven separate types of intelligence. [False – Howard Gardner]

6. Most scientific evidence suggests that intelligence is stable from about age 18 onward. [False – age 7]

7. The controversial book The Bell Curve (1994) by Richard Herrstein and Charles Murray take a strong nature stance on intelligence. [True]

8. The purpose of the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) is to predict high school performance. [False – college]

 

Part D. Matching

Place a name of the concept related to thinking next to correct example of that concept. (Editor: we use about half of the questions posed in the next four sections.)

 

Thinking

 

confirmation bias                                                insight                                    atypical example

algorithm                                               prototype                               representativeness bias

cognitive map                                       heuristic                                                availability bias

functional fixedness

 

1. Someone says “insect,” and you think of a fly. prototype

2. The way from your house to your best friend’s house “in your head.” cognitive map

3. Someone says “insect,” and you think of a walking stick. atypical example

4. Your friend thinks all engineering students are boring and don’t like to socialize. representativeness bias

5. You could have used your key to cut the tape on a tightly wrapped package if you’d only thought of it. functional fixedness

 

Language

 

euphemism                                          symbols                                                phonemes

poverty of stimulus                              suggestibility                        syntax

abstraction                                            nativism                                 memes

linguistic determinism

 

1. Words, numbers, pictographs, hieroglyphics, sounds, and manual signs are all examples of these. symbols

2. You can talk about truth and justice using words, although you can’t see them. abstraction

3. Tra-, sho-, and ma- are all examples of these. phonemes

4. Children learn an enormous amount of language with very little training. poverty of stimulus

5. A sin of memory that may be triggered by use of language. suggestibility

 

Scientists in the History of Intelligence Theory and Testing

 

Sternberg                                              Spearman                                             Kamin

Anastasi                                                                Binet                                                       Guilford

Thurstone                                             Jensen                                                  Gardner

Cattell

 

1. He was one of the two persons who created the first IQ test. Binet

2. She cataloged a vast number of IQ and other psychological tests. Anastasi

3. He proposed the existence of two types of g – crystallized and fluid. Cattell

4. He proposed the existence of eight primary mental abilities. Thurstone

5. He proposed the theory of multiple intelligences. Gardner

6. He wrote the controversial book Bias in Mental Testing. Jensen

 

Intelligence Theory and Testing

 

creative                                                  valid                                        representative

standard deviation                              norms                                    psychometric

crystallized                                            g                                              linguistic

hereditability

 

1. This is the theory that intelligence can be measured. psychometric

2. This is the term for a unitary general intelligence factor. g

3. A person who is good at writing and expression through words would have this kind of intelligence according to Gardner. linguistic

4. These are the scores that are achieved by the original sample that takes a test. norms

5. This is another term for the typical or “average” difference between a score on a test and the mean score. standard deviation

 


Sending Secrets without Sophisticated Encryption

by Editor and Mega Society Member Richard May

 

The PC-portion (alone) in the preparation of Noesis issue #172 (August) involved over 18 hours (sitting at the PC), sustained over 600 revisions, contained over 950 paragraphs, had a prolific 27,000-plus word count, and was infested with 3 tons of TLC (tender-loving-care) by the editor.  Mega Society member, Richard May, submitted by email the article “Aphorism” – re-printed below for your convenience.  Richard emailed me that about 18 percent of his biography submitted was missing?  The editor pondered immediately.  “Hmm, I recall the specific copy-paste operations of Richard’s biography.  It’s all there.”  Within a heartbeat, the editor solved the apparent ‘mystery.’  The response email below outlines the solution our readers of “soft-copy” versions of this article can try out for themselves – either here on this page – or back on page 57 in the Noesis #172 (August) issue.  ”HARD copy” owners will find the “resolution” to this ‘puzzle,’ in stages, on the next page.

Aphorism

by Richard May – Mega Society Member (page 57, Noesis #172 – August)

 

“The possibility of one's existence is too private to share with oneself.”

 

Text Box: Born near the rarified regions of Laputa, then and often, above suburban Boston, during the Year of the Monkey, I am a Piscean, a cerebrotonic ectomorph, and an ailurophile. Kafka and Munch have been my therapists and allies. Ever striving to descend from the mists and to attain the mythic orientation that is known as having one's feet upon the earth, I have done occasional consulting and frequent Sisyphean shlepping.
 
A paper tiger with letters after my name, I have been awarded an M.A. degree, mirabile dictu, in the humanities by Cal. State, Diplomate status in ISPE, and a U.S. patent for a board game of possible interest to aliens. As the author of Autoanthropophagy: The Eucharist of the Gods, a Seven-level Allegorical Encryption, it is fitting that I have been a member of Mensa, ISPE, Prometheus, Mega, and the Aleph-3. As founder of the Aleph itself, and the renowned Laputans Manque, I am a biographee in Marquis' Who's Who in the World. 
 
Most significant to me is the philosophia perennis and the realization of the idea of man as an incomplete being who can and should complete his own evolution by effecting a change in his being and consciousness.

 

 

Hello Richard:                               Wednesday                                             August 11, 2004

 

Thanks so much for mentioning the lost 18.5 percent loss of your BIO <<< >>>  (100*(1-(163/200)) = 18.50 %

 

I’ll do a short article in the #173 (September) issue on this – and include your missing 18.5% of the BIO as well.

 

To help you see “the trick” – I extract the section in Noesis #172 that contains your “Bio” – as is.  Take a look.

 

Afterwards,

 

1.     “click” on the BORDER of the “box” that surrounds your BIO.  The “box” will then “highlighted”

2.     in the “highlighted” mode, you’ll see small DOTS at the four corners and center parts of the four sides of the box

3.     place your “cursor” at the center bottom DOT of the “box” – a “double up/down arrow” will appear

4.     depress your index finger (assume your right-handed) on the LEFT button of the mouse, holding it down

5.     while holding it down, you’ll be able to slide (pull down) the bottom of the “box” – and walla – there lies the

6.     missing 18.5 percent of your BIO!!!!  It was there all the while!

 

Pretty nifty way to send SECRET messages!!!!  I am thrilled you alerted me!  A really neet article will result!

 

Sincerely yours!

Ron

 

And the Editor exclaimed: “It was there all the while!”


Sending Secrets without Sophisticated Encryption – cont’d

by Editor and Mega Society Member Richard May

 

 

Text Box: Born near the rarified regions of Laputa, then and often, above suburban Boston, during the Year of the Monkey, I am a Piscean, a cerebrotonic ectomorph, and an ailurophile. Kafka and Munch have been my therapists and allies. Ever striving to descend from the mists and to attain the mythic orientation that is known as having one's feet upon the earth, I have done occasional consulting and frequent Sisyphean shlepping.
 
A paper tiger with letters after my name, I have been awarded an M.A. degree, mirabile dictu, in the humanities by Cal. State, Diplomate status in ISPE, and a U.S. patent for a board game of possible interest to aliens. As the author of Autoanthropophagy: The Eucharist of the Gods, a Seven-level Allegorical Encryption, it is fitting that I have been a member of Mensa, ISPE, Prometheus, Mega, and the Aleph-3. As founder of the Aleph itself, and the renowned Laputans Manque, I am a biographee in Marquis' Who's Who in the World. 
 
Most significant to me is the philosophia perennis and the realization of the idea of man as an incomplete being who can and should complete his own evolution by effecting a change in his being and consciousness.

We gradually “pull down” on the ‘center’ ‘circle’ of the highlighted Text Box at the bottom . . . and . . . walla . . . we begin to find the missing 18.5% or Richard’s biography!

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Text Box: Born near the rarified regions of Laputa, then and often, above suburban Boston, during the Year of the Monkey, I am a Piscean, a cerebrotonic ectomorph, and an ailurophile. Kafka and Munch have been my therapists and allies. Ever striving to descend from the mists and to attain the mythic orientation that is known as having one's feet upon the earth, I have done occasional consulting and frequent Sisyphean shlepping.
 
A paper tiger with letters after my name, I have been awarded an M.A. degree, mirabile dictu, in the humanities by Cal. State, Diplomate status in ISPE, and a U.S. patent for a board game of possible interest to aliens. As the author of Autoanthropophagy: The Eucharist of the Gods, a Seven-level Allegorical Encryption, it is fitting that I have been a member of Mensa, ISPE, Prometheus, Mega, and the Aleph-3. As founder of the Aleph itself, and the renowned Laputans Manque, I am a biographee in Marquis' Who's Who in the World. 
 
Most significant to me is the philosophia perennis and the realization of the idea of man as an incomplete being who can and should complete his own evolution by effecting a change in his being and consciousness.

And as avid readers know, the Editor leans toward using Arial font – and Richard’s material was submitted in Times New Roman – and when “pasted” into a Text Box here – remains as Times New Roman (the default font in a Text Box).

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Math-a-Day

by Theoni Pappas

 

 

Always on the prowl, the editor stumbled on some mental recreation books – one of which is titled “Math-a-Day” by Theoni Pappas; publisher is Wide World Publishing/Tetra, 1999, ISBN 1-88450-20-7, USD $12.95, softbound, 247 pages.  Theoni’s biography, a female math teacher, is given below.  The problems are by day of the year, so in the table we list the day and problem.

 

 

Theoni Pappas Biography

http://www.nctm.org/about/met/bio_pappas.htm

Theoni Pappas is committed to giving mathematics greater exposure and making it more approachable. Pappas encourages mathematics teachers to share and develop new teaching ideas, methods, and approaches. Her gift to the Mathematics Education Trust (MET) helps teachers in grades 9—12 develop mathematics enrichment materials and lessons complementing a teaching unit implemented in the classroom.

Currently, Pappas is a mathematics educator and consultant. She received her B.A. from the University of California at Berkeley and her M.A. from Stanford University. She became a member of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) in 1967, when she began teaching high school mathematics. Over the years, she has taught basic math, prealgebra, algebra, trigonometry, geometry, precalculus, and calculus.

Through her studies and research, Pappas has developed products that address mathematical ideas, and she has written numerous books, both for the general public and for educational audiences. Her books include More Joy of Mathematics; The Joy of Mathematics; Mathematics Appreciation; Math Talk; Greek Cooking for Everyone; Fractals, Googols, and Other Mathematical Tales; Mathematical Footprints; The Magic of Mathematics; Math-A-Day; The Music of Reason; Mathematical Scandals; The Adventures of Penrose?the Mathematical Cat; and Math for Kids & Other People Too!

 

 

Day

Problem

1/3

The coordinates of A are (1, y, -3) and of B are (-2, 5, -4) and |AB| = 141/2.  Find y so that y > 4 – where |x| denotes the “magnitude” of the quantity ‘x’

1/11

[(3.62) ¸ (0.079)]0 equals?

1/19

A car passed me going 10 mph faster than my car.  How many feet ahead of me will it be in 5 minutes?

2/18

If 65 different diagonals can be drawn on a convex polygon, how many vertices does this convex polygon have?

2/20

(1/5) y = 5 sinq has amplitude equal to?

3/1

–1 – 91/2 + 81/3 + 91/2 equals?

3/18

– epi / (log2 (log8 64)) equals?

4/11

18 + 6 + 3 + (1/3) + (1/9) + (1/27) + (1/54) + . . . = ?

4/16

(4i3)4 equals?

4/26

2 and 3/8 percent of $8,400 equals?

5/12

435 is the sum of the first ??? natural numbers?

6/1

The microorganisms in a jar quadruple every 30 seconds.  After 1.5 minutes there were 1,472.  How many were in the jar to start with?

7/24

The people of Playland only tell the truth on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday.  Which day of the week is it if a Playlander says “I told the truth yesterday?”

8/27

The plane 3x – 2y + z = – 28 intersects the y-axis at y = ?

10/11

How many edges are there in a truncated dodecahedron?

10/30

6, 18, 7, ?, 10, 30, 19, 57, . . .

12/13

5 – 8 x 3 ¸ (8 – 2(6 – 3(5 – 4) + 3)) = ?

12/21

The equation of a projectile is y = – 12 x2 + 12 x +17.  The maximum height it reaches=?

 


Math-a-Day Û Answers

by Theoni Pappas and Editor descriptions

 

 

Always on the prowl, the editor stumbled on some mental recreation books – one of which is titled “Math-a-Day” by Theoni Pappas, by Wide World Publishing/Tetra, 1999, ISBN 1-88450-20-7, USD $12.95, softbound, 247 pages.  Theoni’s biography, a female math teacher, is given below.  The problems are by day of the year, so in the table we list the day and problem. The outline of the book is as follows.  For each day of the year there is a quote, an historical/current note, and problem.

 

Day

Problem

1/3

The coordinates of A are (1, y, -3) and of B are (-2, 5, -4) and | AB | = 141/2.  Find y so that y > 4 [answer: 7 (use ‘distance’ formula, solve quadratic for the non-zero root)]

1/11

[(3.62) ¸ (0.079)]0 equals? [answer: 1 (any number raised to zero power = 1)]

1/19

A car passed me going 10 mph faster than my car.  How many feet ahead of me will it be in 5 minutes? [answer: 4400 ft. (find how far the car goes in 5 minutes at 10 mph)]

2/18

If 65 different diagonals can be drawn on a convex polygon, how many vertices does this convex polygon have? [answer: 2015 (# diagonals per convex n-gon = (n2 – 3n)/2)]

2/20

(1/5) y = 5 sinq has amplitude equal to? [answer: 25 (multiply both sides by 5; y = 25 sin(2q)]

3/1

–1 – 91/2 + 81/3 + 91/2 equals? [answer: 1 (-1 -3 +2 + 3 = 1)]

3/18

– epi / (log2 (log8 64)) equals? [answer: 1 (epi = -1, log8 64 = 2, log2 2 = 1, thus 1/1 = 1)]

4/11

18 + 6 + 3 + (1/3) + (1/9) + (1/27) + (1/54) + . . . = ? [answer: 27 (sum of geometric series with 1st term ‘a’ and ratio ‘r’  and r < 1 equals a/(1-r) = 18(1 – 1/3) = 27)]

4/16

(4i3)4 equals? [answer: 256 (44 x i12 = 256)]

4/26

2 and 3/8 percent of $8,400 equals? [answer: 199.50 (0.02375 x 8400 = $199.50)]

5/12

435 is the sum of the first ??? natural numbers? [answer: 29 (sum of first N natural numbers = N(N+1)/2, so that we solve a quadratic N2 + N = 870 and factor it, (N+30)(N-29) = 0)]

 

6/1

The microorganisms in a jar quadruple every 30 seconds.  After 1.5 minutes there were 1,472.  How many were in the jar to start with? [answer: 23 (1472/4 = 368, (368/4) = 92, (92/4) = 23 because the amount in the jar had quadrupled 3 times in 1½ minutes)]

 

7/24

The people of Playland only tell the truth on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday.  Which day of the week is it if a Playlander says “I told the truth yesterday?” [answer: Saturday (no other day works with this statement “I told the truth yesterday.”)]

8/27

The plane 3x – 2y + z = – 28 intersects the y-axis at y = ? [answer: 14 (the plane at the y-axis, (0,y,0) is 0 – 2y + 0 = -28, thus y = 14)]

 

10/11

How many edges are there in a truncated dodecahedron? [answer: 32 faces (look at the Schlegal diagram – a flattened dodecahedron.   The 12 pentagonal faces are present, along with its 20 vertices. If each vertex is truncated, the resulting solid has 20 + 12 = 32 faces)]

10/30

6, 18, 7, ?, 10, 30, 19, 57, . . . [answer: 21 (this sequence is formed by alternately multiplying the previous term by 3, and the next by subtracting 11)]

12/13

5 – 8 x 3 ¸ (8 – 2(6 – 3(5 – 4) + 3)) = ? [answer: 11 (work “inside out”)]

 

12/21

The equation of a projectile is y = – 12 x2 + 12 x +17.  The maximum height it reaches=? [answer: 26 (use the 1st derivative to determine where the tangent is zero, which is the maximum height; y’ = -24x + 12; -24x + 12 = 0; thus x=1/2; y = 12(½)2 + 12(½) + 17 so y = 26)]

 

Selected quotes supplied in Theoni’s book follow in the next ‘article.”


Math-a-Day Û Selected Quotes

by Theoni Pappas

 

 

“Mathematics consists of proving the most obvious thing in the least obvious way. George Polya

 

“The real question is not whether machines think, but whether men do.” B. F. Skinner

 

“The mathematician who pursues his studies without clear views of this matter, must often have the uncomfortable feeling that his paper and pencil surpass him in intelligence.” Ernst Mach

 

“Imagination is more important than knowledge.” Albert Einstein

 

“An expert is a man who has made all the mistakes, which can be made, in a narrow field.” Niels Bohr

 

“’Alice laughed: “There’s no use trying,” she said; “one can’t believe impossible things.”’” Lewis CarrollAlice in Wonderland

 

“Perfect numbers like perfect men are very rare.” Rene’ Descartes’

 

“Poetry is as exact a science as geometry.” Gustave Flaubert

 

“A man is like a fraction whose numerator is what he is and whose denominator is what he thinks of himself.  The larger the denominator the smaller the fraction.” Tolstoy

 

“Logic is the art of going wrong with confidence.” Morris Kline

 

“Although the whole of this life were said to be nothing but a dream and the physical world nothing but a phantasm, I should call this dream or phantasm real enough, if, using reason well, we were never deceived by it.” Gottfried Leibniz

 

“He who loves practice without theory is like the sailor who boards ship without a rudder and compass and never knows where he may be cast.” Leonardo da Vinci

 

“A good calculator does not need artificial aids.” Lao Tze (604-531 B.C.)

 

“A great truth is a truth whose opposite is also a great truth.” Thomas Mann

 

“Logic, like whiskey, loses its beneficial effect when taken in too large quantities.” Lord Dunsany

 

“Where there is matter, there is geometry.” Johannes Kepler

 

“Finally I am becoming stupider no more.” Paul Erdos – the epitaph he wrote for himself

 

“The mathematician may be compared to a designer of garments, who is utterly oblivious of the creatures whom his garments may fit.” Tobias Dantzig

 

Obvious is the most dangerous word in mathematics.” Eric Temple Bell

 

“Statistical thinking will one day be as necessary for efficient citizenship as the ability to read and write.” H.G. Wells

 

“There is nothing so troublesome to mathematical practice . . . than multiplications, divisions, square and cubical extractions of great numbers . . .  I began therefore to consider  . . . how I might remove those hindrances.” John Napier

“Nothing in Nature is random . . . A thing appears random only through the incompleteness of our knowledge.” Spinoza

 

“You can only find truth with logic if you have already found truth without it.” G. K. Chesterton

 

“There is an astonishing imagination even in the science of mathematics.”  Voltaire

 

“The essence of mathematics is its freedom.” Georg Cantor

 

“It is easier to square the circle than to get round a mathematician.”  Augustus De Morgan

 

“I make no question but you will readily allow the square of 16 to be the most magically magical of any magic square ever made by any magician.” Benjamin Franklin

 

“God is like a skillful Geometrician.” Sir Thomas Browne

 

“The real danger is not that computers will begin to think like men, but that men will begin to think like computers.”  Sidney J. Harris

 

“If others would but reflect on mathematical truths as deeply and as continuously as I have, they would make my discoveries.”  Karl Gauss

 

“Number theorists are like lotus-eaters – having once tasted of this food they can never give it up.”  Leopold Kronecker

 

“Contradiction is not a sign of falsity, nor the lack of contradiction a sign of truth.”  Blaise Pascal

 

“An equation has no meaning unless it expresses a thought of God.”  Srinivasa Ramanujan

 

“The profound study of nature is the most fertile source of mathematical discoveries.”  Joseph Fourier

 

“Music is the pleasure the human soul experiences from counting without being aware it is counting.  Gottfried Leibniz

 

“The art of asking the right questions in mathematics is more important than the art of solving them.  Georg Cantor

 

“Mountains are not cones, clouds are not spheres, trees are not cylinders, neither does lightning travel in a straight line.  Almost everything around us is non-Euclidean.”  Benoit Mandelbrot

 

“If I were to awaken after having slept for a thousand years, my first question would be: Has the Riemann hypothesis been proven?”  David Hilbert

 

“It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data.”  Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

 

“Oh these mathematicians make me tired!  When you ask them to work out a sum they take out a piece of paper, cover it with rows of A’s B’s and X’s Y’s . . . scatter a mess of flyspecks over them, and then give you an answer that’s all wrong.”  Thomas Edison

 

“Everything in nature adheres to the cone, the cylinder, and the cube.” Paul Cezanne


Animal Group Names

by Editor

 

 

We’ve heard the phrase “A swarm of bees.”  Here we challenge our avid readers to fill in the blank for different “groups” of animals.  Don’t be surprised if you have considerable difficulty!

 

1. a ______ of badgers

2. a ______ of bears

3. a ______ of boars

4. a ______ of cats

5. a ______ of cattle

6. a ______ of chickens

7. a ______ of crows

8. a ______ of ducks in flight

9. a ______ of eagles

10. a ______ of eels

11. a ______ of elk

12. a ______ of ferrets

13. a ______ of fish

14. an ______ of frogs

15. a ______ of foxes

16. a ______ of gulls

17. a ______ of hare

18. a ______ of hawk

19. a ______ of heron

20. a ______ of herring

21. a ______ of hummingbirds

22. a ______ of jays

23. a ______ of kangaroos

24. an ______ of larks

25. a ______ of leopards

26. a ______ of mice

27. a ______ of mules

28. a ______ of nightingales

29. a ______ of partridges

30. a ______ of pigs

31. a ______ of porpoises

32. a ______ of quail

33. an ______ of ravens

34. a ______ of rhinoceros

35. a ______ of seals

36. a ______ of sparrow

37. a ______ of squirrels

38. a ______ of starlings

39. a ______ of stork

40. a ______ of swans

41. a ______ of toads

42. a ______ of turkeys

43. a ______ of whales

44. a ______ of wolves

45. a ______ of worms


Challenging Math Puzzles from the Editor’s Treasure Chest

by Editor

 

 

The Editor is a pack-rat and collects many odds-and-ends.  Of these are math puzzles from a number of sources.  We share the problem statements (only) here for our enthusiastic puzzle-masters to crunch and meditate on.  If a solution is truly desired by any avid reader, please feel free to write me.  The numbering used in the problem “tracks” with the editor’s Treasure Chest.

 

Q14a – Let n be a natural number.  Prove that (a) n has a (nonzero) multiple whose representation (base 10) contains only zeroes and ones; and (b) 2n has a multiple whose representation contains only ones and twos.

 

Q14b – Given a natural number n > 1, add up all the fractions 1/pq, where p and q are relatively prime, 0 < p < q < n, and p + q > n.  Prove that the result is always 1/2.

 

Q15a – Each number from 1 to 1010 is written out in formal English (e.g., “two hundred eleven,” one thousand forty-two”) and then listed in alphabetical order (as in a dictionary, where spaces and hyphens are ignored).  What’s the first odd number in the list?

 

Q35a – You have an opportunity to bet $1 on a number between 1 and 6.  Three dice are then rolled.  If your number fails to appear, you lose $1.  If it appears once, you win $1; if twice, $2; if three times, $3.  Is this bet in your favor, fair, or against the odds?  Is there a way to determine this without doing any calculations?

 

Q43a – A solid square-base pyramid, with all edges of unit length, and a solid triangle-base pyramid (tetrahedron), also with all edges of unit length, are glued together by matching two triangular faces.  How many faces does the resulting solid have?

 

Q44a – Can you pass a cube through a hole in a smaller cube?

 

Q58a – A phone call is made from an East Coast state to a West Coast state, and it’s the same time of day at both ends.  How can this be?

 

Q59a – What’s the largest city in the U.S. with a one-syllable name?

 

Q96a – In a proposed mechanism for a certain country’s national lottery, each participant chooses a positive integer. The person who submits the lowest number not chosen by anyone else is the winner.  (If no number is chosen by exactly one person, there is no winner).  If just three people participate, but each employs an optimal, equilibrium, randomized strategy, what is the largest number that has positive probability of being submitted?

 

Q97a – Alice and Bob relax after breakfast with a simple number game.  Alternately, Alice chooses a digit and Bob substitutes it for one of the stars in the difference “* * * * ¾ * * * *.”  Alice is trying to maximize the final difference, Bob to minimize it.  What difference will be arrived at with best play?

 

Q122a – A bunch of mathematicians at a conference banquet find themselves assigned to a big circular table.  On the table, between each pair of settings, is a coffee cup containing a cloth napkin. As each person sits down, he takes a napkin from his left or right; if both napkins are present, he chooses randomly.  There is no maitre d’; the seats are occupied in random order.  If the number of mathematicians is large, what fraction of them (asymptotically) will end up without a napkin?

 

Q143a – In an unending race, n runners having distinct constant speeds start at a common point and run laps on a unit length circular track.  Prove that each runner will at some moment in time be at distance at least 1/n from every other runner.

 

Q144a – Is every polygonal region in the plane, with reflecting edges, illuminable from some interior point?

 

Q146a – Suppose that a network (not necessarily planar) of cities and one-way roads has the following properties: From each city, there are exactly two roads leading out, and for some n, you can get from any city to any other city in n steps.  Prove that you can color the roads red and blue in such a way that (a) each city has an exit road of each color, and (b) there is a set of instructions (e.g., “RBBRRRBRBBR”) that always ends at the same city, regardless of your beginning point.

 

 


 

 

A Visit to the Glashuette Original Factory

 by Marcus Hanke

 

 

Situated on the edge of a mountainous region called “Erzgebirge”, only some 25 kilometers south of the famous city of Dresden, the small Saxonian town Glashuette at first sight seems to be a town in the Swiss Jura: Green mountains and narrow valleys limit the possibilities of agricultural production and make it clear, that the inhabitants had to search for alternative ways to earn their money, as had done their colleagues in Switzerland; producing watches being the most important one.

 

Glashuette in Saxonia. The Glashuette Uhrenbetrieb is located in the large brown building in the foreground

 

 

When approaching Glashuette, though, one has no difficulties making out differences from Swiss towns: More than forty years of communist reign did not pass without leaving traces. The desolate state of both buildings and streets testifies of a system which allocated most of the available economical resources to the state’s capital Berlin, while the provinces more or less withered away. Yet today it is evident, that the watchmaking industry is starting to fill the city's pockets with money. Everywhere one faces hectic building activity, and the future prospects are bright: Glashuette will be able to offer enough jobs and a modern infrastructure, to become as wealthy as it has been before, nearly a hundred years ago.

 

The huge Glashuette Original factory building is not very attractive, a typical East German construction. But with its large windows, it offers first insights into the watch production already from the outside: Many workers, wearing blue working clothes, can be observed, busily occupied with noisy machinery; nothing indicates the cloistered working climate commonly attributed to the haute horlogerie. Indeed the production of watches for the most part is noisy and even dirty metalworking, only the final stages see the white-clothed watchmakers on their tables, bent over the delicate assembly of fine timepieces.

 

This we learned from our charming tour guide, the company’s public relations manager Mrs. Boehme. She told us, that, while cases, crystals and dials are supplied by specialized companies, the movements are completely built here, the only exceptions being the springs and the jewels. To illustrate the impressive depth of production, our tour started with a brief visit to the department in which the factory makes its own tools. All drillheads, milling cutters, etc. necessary for the production of watch movements are made in-house as well; and not without pride we were shown a tiny drillhead not wider than 0.05 millimeters! Before any production tools can be designed and produced, however, a new watch and primarily its movement has to be developed. This is the job of the company's development center.

 

Its rooms look like technical offices anywhere else: Big CAD (computer-aided design) screens and drawboards, people in casual outfit, quietly busy inventing such stunning masterpieces as the unique PanoRetroGraph or the perpetual calendar. As a contrast, some doors further we enter the halls in which the baseplates and bridges of the movements are made. Within one operation, a pallet of 36 movements is milled from a massive brass sheet, and all the necessary holes which later take screws or jewels are drilled. The same machinery is used for the production of Glashuette Original and Union movements. On shelves we see stored strips and sheets of brass which are the raw material for bridges and plates.

 

Before the other parts can be added to the baseplates, these have to be painstakingly measured by comparing the actual measurements against a long list of reference points. Of course it would be enough to simply check but the first and the last plates on the pallet; if any drillhead were misadjusted or worn out this would be clearly detected by the electronic equipment. However, the factory management chose to have every single movement checked to ensure the highest possible degree of accuracy. If any bad plates are found, they are made into nice keyring pendants distributed by the public relations department. Unfortunately for them, however, only very few plates are found to be faulty.

 

Other doors open to reveal the facilities where many of the small parts are made: wheels, drives, shafts, screws and even the balance wheels. Sometimes the parts produced are so tiny, that it is impossible to tell them apart from the waste material with the naked eye. With the exception of the springs and the jewels, the Glashuette Original factory is producing all parts of their movements in-house, which distinguishes the company from most others in the watch production.

 

However, one has to understand that this nowadays highly praised autarchy is the result of a very peculiar political and economical development completely different from the Western European standard: As was the case in Switzerland, the Saxonian watch industry too, originally was highly dispersed and consisted of a multitude of companies, each dedicated to the production of a single category of parts. Even before the German Democratic Republic was formally founded in 1949, these companies were socialized and collectivized into one state-owned company, bringing together all suppliers under one roof and management.

 

The communist Eastern Germany did not have enough stock of hard currency available to import watch parts from Swiss or West German manufacturers. Therefore as much as possible was to be produced indigenously. During the eighties even quartz oscillators for quartz watches were made in Glashuette. The only big exception was made with the production machines, which were bought in Switzerland, many of which are still in use today.

A lot more modern are the huge spark erosion machines we find in another room. Here all the fine and flat parts, which formerly were stamped or punched, are cut out from the sheets of raw material by means of a powerful electrical charge. On a monitor nearby we can follow the wire and the spark, cutting out a delicate swan-neck regulator; this procedure lasts several minutes, so it is understandable, that with only a few of these sophisticated machines the production numbers cannot be high.

 

We leave behind the noisy production halls, passing long and empty corridors. Every now and then a door opens and a worker comes into sight, tugging a small handcart loaded with nothing but some watch parts. After a friendly greeting he disappears again, continuing his way to another department in need of the parts he is transporting. Sometimes I have the impression of walking through some abstruse administration building, in which individual files are carried from room to room, floor to floor. The lack of an internal transporting system makes this handwork necessary, Mrs. Boehme explains. But the complete reconstruction of the building is planned and will take place the following year. A modernized architecture with a glassy façade will bring the end to this and some other peculiarities.

 

The next department we visit on our tour are dedicated to checking and decorating the parts previously produced, as well as the production of some subassemblies. While several employees are checking all wheels for their proper balance, a colleague uses a microscope to screw the tiny screws into the balance wheels with impressive routine. At other workplaces the baseplates and bridges are decorated with special grindings, the Glashuette stripes, which happen to be identical to the well-known Geneva stripes. A lot of handicraft is involved when Glashuette Original movements have to be decorated: Trained hands apply all the different grindings, and with their experienced eyes the employees set all the circles and stripes on their proper locations with perfect evenness. Edges are bevelled and screw heads polished; the high precision with which the specialists treat each individual part is obvious.

 

Finally, we enter the “sacred halls”, where the traditional watchmaking rules. Here the manifold parts produced in the other departments are put together, to finally result in wonderful wristwatches. At the assembly of the mechanical high-end specialities each watchmaker is completely responsible for one watch, from the first screw to the final adjustment and the leather strap. Here the best watchmakers of the company are busy assembling tourbillions, perpetual calendars, and of course the famous PanoRetroGraph.

 

During our visit a watchmaker carried out the final tests on a PanoRetroGraph. Asked, for how long he had worked on it, he succinctly answered: “Five weeks”. Imagine that, five weeks, eight hours a day, only for the assembly! Now add the time and effort necessary to develop and produce all the different watch parts, the time needed to control each of them, and you no longer wonder about the high price – it even strikes you as rather inexpensive!

 

Another, larger room houses the final assembly of all the “standard” watches of the Glashuette Original and Union labels. Here the only difference to the “specialities chamber” is that not one watchmaker assembles the complete watch from the beginning to the end, but each watchmaker is responsible for a certain group of parts or subassembly. After finishing this work, he transfers this incomplete movement to a colleague who continues where he had stopped.

 

Our tour through the factory finishes here, yet we still have another highlight to see: the Glashuette museum of watchmaking. Although occupying only two large rooms, this museum covers the complete history of watchmaking in the city of Glashuette. Due to the industry’s unique situation after World War II, the museum owns the archives of all the companies, which were formerly independent but collectivized by the communist government. Since Glashuette Original is the only legal successor of all Glashuette-based companies involved in watch production before 1949, even the archive of the original Lange & Soehne company is part of Glashuette Original's collection, which is now owned by the city. In the near future the museum will move into a more spacious home.

 

I am very happy to have had the privilege of visit this fascinating factory, and I would like to thank the Glashuette staff a lot for their friendly cooperation and patience, especially Mrs. Boehme, who was such a fantastic tour guide.


"Watch of the Year 2000"

by Glashutte Original – the Editor’s favorite watch!

www.glashuette-original.com

 

 

 

Text Box: Senator "Perpetual Calendar" 

The movement:
Automatic movement calibre 39 

The functions:
hour, minute and second display, perpetual calendar with day, month, leap year and  moon-phase, panorama date

The dial:
blue, grey or silver coloured with silver or gold-coloured mounted numerals, polished hands

The housing:
burnished/polished stainless steel,18 ct rose gold or platinum (limited edition of 50 watches), sapphire glasses on top and bottom, screwed base, waterproof up to 5 atm 

The strap:
Louisiana crocodile leather strap, fold fastener made of stainless steel, 18 ct rose gold or platinum

 

Nowadays, a watch is more than simply a piece of jewelry. We always expect the highest degree of precision, whether for private or business purposes. The watches in the Senator Collection are equipped with 21st century functionality and accuracy. Manufactured in the Glashütte Original watch manufactory, they are a perfect combination of modern demands on precision and aesthetics and long-lasting values embodied by traditional watchmaking craftsmanship. With a classical silver dial or in a striking navigator design, a Senator watch is a continual expression of watchmaking perfection.  About USD $19K.


Glashütte is situated in the Weisseritz district of Saxony, one of the most beautiful low mountain ranges in Germany - the eastern Erz Mountains. The Weisseritz district has a border with the Czech Republic in the south, with the Saxon Switzerland district in the east, with the regional capital Dresden in the north and the district of Freiberg in the west.

 

 

 

 

 


Forensics – the DNA Fingerprint

by N. E. Genge

 

Years ago I really enjoyed many television stories.  One of these was a TV series Quincy.  Quincy was a forensic pathologist.  He might have been aided by a forensic photographer, specially trained to "preserve" the details of a crime scene.

If the crime took place several days earlier -- and Quincy isn't sure how many days earlier – he might seek the help of a forensic entomologist, who can determine this (and other details, such as where the murder took place) by the types and quantity of insects invading the body.

If they were filming Quincy: The New Adventures, we'd probably be seeing computer forensics at work, as experts try to recover deleted, encrypted, or damaged data.  This probably wouldn't relate to the murder per se, but rather to the motives behind it: blackmail, fraud, or harassment.  Today’s contemporary television series (first aired October 2000) is C.S.I.: Crime Scene Investigation – which reveals almost miraculous use of technology and painstaking perseverance and lateral thinking on the part of the CSI team.

I was browsing through the bookstore a month ago and was delighted to find some current, “readable” books on forensics.  One I began plowing through is titled “The Forensic Casebook: The Science of Crime Scene Investigation (CSI)” by N. E. Genge.  Publisher is Ballantine Books, 2002, ISBN 0-345-45203-8; contains 5 chapters, 319 pages; paperback; 7½ inch wide by 9¼ inch long by ¾ inch thick.

  Chapter 3 is the focus of this article – “Working the Scene of the Body Human” – starting on page 142.  I hope the topic of the DNA Fingerprint is interesting and educational to you, our faithful reader.

 

“So much evidence is found on and inside the human body that it constitutes a crime scene unto itself.  After undergoing preliminary examination at the scene, a body is released into the hands of the coroners or medical examiners, becoming the landscape that yet another rank of investigators will scrutinize intimately – right down to its basic molecules, in fact.”

 

Blood Factors and the DNA Fingerprint

 

“Blood’s individual qualities were recognized years ago when doctors realized some transfusions were successful while others were immediately fatal.  From that observation came the ABO typing system and the first understanding of the Rhesus factor.”

 

“While there are extremely rare or exotic blood types, most people can be classified into the A, B, O, or AB blood types.  The fact that an AB type exists at all told early investigators that every individual actually carries two alleles, or traits that determine blood type – one inherited from each parent.  Further studies proved that if each parent contributed an O allele, the child would be type O, but if one parent contributed an A and the other an O, the A dominated.  Likewise, if one parent contributed a B and one an O, then the B dominated.”

 

“Unlike fingerprints, which were unique to an individual, blood types could be shared by millions of people. . . . For that kind of individualization, law enforcement had to wait until DNA analysis – the study of deoxyribonucleic acid – advanced.  DNA, the physical material that we inherit from our parents when one sperm finds that one egg, is absolutely individual – with one exception.  Identical twins form from one fertilized egg, so their DNA is identical.”

 

“While fingerprinting is still the only surefire way to separate identical twins, DNA testing provides its own advantages:

 

Every cell in an individual’s body contains identical DNA.  Fingerprints come only from fingers, but DNA can be found in blood, in urine, in feces, in saliva, in some hair, in the shed skin cells found in a facecloth or toothbrush – even in the sweatband of a hat!  A suspect doesn’t have to bleed at the scene to leave DNA.  Semen at rape scenes, saliva on the envelope of a ransom note, skin cells scraped onto a rope while tying a victim – all provide the opportunity for collection and analysis.

 

DNA can survive much longer than a fingerprint.  While some few prints have been collected years after being made, DNA analysis has been performed on Egyptian mummies!  Granted, not too many mummies are going to be arrested, but the example helps illustrate DNA’s power as a means of identification.  DNA can provide closure to a victim’s family years later by making it possible to identify bodies that might have been buried just a decade ago as John or Jane Does.

 

DNA can indicate familial relationships.  Though it’s been theorized that prints in family members might have similarities, it’s unproven. But because DNA is inherited from two parents, a significant number of matches in a sample can point to a “first-degree” relative – a mother, father, or sibling.  In cases where groups are involved in crimes, this is important evidence.  A Philippine case involved a murder conducted by two individuals.  One was identified by an eyewitness, but the second man was not.  DNA from spit at the scene didn’t belong to the man already identified, but had so many points in common with his that investigators suggested a sibling as the second individual.  Brought in on that evidence, the brother confessed.

 

DNA evidence doesn’t combine.  Blood evidence at a scene frequently comes from more than one individual – either the attacker and the attacked or a number of victims.  If one hypothetical victim is type A and another is type B, a combined sample of their blood might suggest an AB individual.  With DNA, the traits of both victims would be found in the sample.  But with samples from the victims available for comparison, it would be possible to prove that it’s a combined sample possible from only these two individuals.  It makes determining who was at a specific point in the scene possible.  Blood evidence could have suggested the inclusion of completely fictitious individuals!”

 

“Before it can be collected, it has to be found.  And if one of DNA’s advantages to the investigator is that small samples are still useful, then one of its disadvantages is how hard to spot such tiny deposits can be.  Two of the aids investigators may use are chemicals like luminol and alternative light sources (ALS) like UV.  Many biological samples fluoresce naturally in certain wavelengths of light.  Semen, blood, and amniotic fluid are amenable to this method.  If it’s not possible to use ALS, a spray of luminol (which reacts with the iron in blood and any other blood-containing biological specimens) proves valuable.”

 

“In the United States, the National Institute of Justice has a checklist of items investigators should consider in determining where DNA evidence might be found and suggests the collection of these:

 

· fingernails or fingernail parings

· tissues, paper towels, napkins, cotton swabs, ear swabs (bag everything in a bathroom wastebasket)

· toothpicks, cigarette butts, straws, anything that might have been in contact with the mouth, like cellular phones

· blankets, pillows, sheets, mattresses, dirty laundry

·  head gear of any type

· eyeglasses, contact lenses

· used stamps, envelopes

· tapes, ropes, cords, anything else used as ligatures

· used condoms

· bullets that have passed through bodies”

 

[Editor] There are many other good tips in this down-to-earth book by N. E. Genge (pages 142-158) that the energetic, avid Noesis reader can find.  Readers looking for a new profession might consider a Forensic DNA Analyst/DNA Technical Leader position, like the one cited on page 148 (given below).

 

 

 

Forensic DNA Analyst/DNA Technical Leader

 

IDENTIGENE® is seeking applicants for Forensic DNA Analyst/DNA Technical Leader positions.

 

Qualifications include a bachelor’s or master’s degree in biology, chemistry, or forensic science; a minimum of six months forensic DNA casework experience to qualify for the Forensic Analyst position; a minimum of three years forensic casework experience to qualify for the Technical Leader position.  Must have completed course work covering the subject areas of biochemistry, genetics, and molecular biology.  In addition, course work and/or training in statistics and/or population genetics is necessary.  Experience handling a broad range of forensic samples, experience giving expert witness testimony, and familiarity with the ABI PrismTM 377 Automated DNA Sequencer are desirable.

 

These positions report to the Forensic DNA Laboratory Director.

 

Responsibilities include performing DNA profiling on biological samples; performing test result interpretation; giving expert witness testimony for criminal casework; performing internal validation studies for automated STR systems; and participating in training.

 

Salary: $35,000 - $65,000/annual.

 

 

 

“The earliest DNA typing was the RFLP (restriction fragment length polymorphisms) method.  In this technique, DNA extracted from the sample is cut into fragments by chemical ‘scissors,’ which separate the long DNA strands at specific spots between any two of the four proteins that make up DNA.  In chemical shorthand, the four proteins are A, T, C, and G.  Because everyone’s DNA is different, the length between one person’s A’s and T’s or C’s and G’s is different from the distances between another person’s.”

 

“The RFLP technique is a detailed, accurate, and precise way of identifying individual people.  On the downside, RFLP is slow.  It can take anywhere from three weeks to three months to get results.  The lab work alone takes nearly a month and, because it ties up lab facilities, there’s frequently a backlog of work.  Not helpful if you’re a law enforcement officer who needs a lead.  And certainly not helpful if you’re the accused waiting for these results to clear you!”

 

“PCR (polymerase chain reaction) methods improved on the RFLP technique by replicating the DNA present in a tiny sample until there was enough of it to type, making even minuscule samples significant.  It works on the principle that DNA replicates itself naturally each time a cell divides.  PCR creates the same situation chemically by ‘unzipping’ the DNA molecule into its two halves.  . . . The advantages of PCR are many.  To begin with, it’s fast.  Even the longest testing period should take less than a week, and it’s frequently faster than that . . . . The whole process takes about two minutes!  And it’s repeatable.  In less than four hours, it’s possible to multiply a sample by 5,000 percent.  Also, PCR testing is much less expensive than RFLP methods, making it possible for more case evidence to get into the system . . . . PCR can also use ‘degraded’ evidence – in other words, older samples recovered at a secondary scene located some time later, even up to decades after the primary scene has been worked and – can still produce significant results . . . . Unfortunately, PCR samples are at higher risk for contamination than are RFLP samples.  The copying process can’t distinguish between DNA left by a suspect and DNA from a criminalist who breathed a little too heavily – consequently, all DNA present is copied.  From a purely statistical perspective, because of the narrower region of study, the results may not be as detailed as RFLP.  One in millions, or even billions, are terms associated with RFLP; with PCR, the numbers are more like 1 in 10,000 or 100,000 – impressive, but not of the same order.”

 

 “DNA analysis is a quickly changing field.  Just when PCR was becoming generally understood, its values and differences from RFLP filtering down to street-level investigators, new tests – the STR (short tandem repeat) process in particular - began yielding significant results.  STRs are newcomers in court, but have been used extensively in non-forensic identifications.  Victims of TWA Flight 800’s crash in the Everglades were identified by this method, as were those who died in the Branch Davidian fire outside Waco.  And it seems likely that the victims of the September 11 assaults may [have] be [been] identified by the same methodology.  As might be inferred from these incidents, STR techniques can function with severely degraded DNA.”

 

We list another job description below – for Forensic Chemist-Biology (DNA) Specialist.

 

 

Forensic Chemist-Biology (DNA) Specialist

 

The Acadiana Criminalistics Laboratory (New Iberia, LA) is seeking applicants for the position of Forensic Chemist-Biology (DNA) Specialist.  An M.S. degree in biology, biochemistry, molecular biology, geneitcs, forensic science, or related field, with three years of experience in biology (DNA) is highly desirable.  A B.S. degree in biology, biochemistry, molecular biology, geneitcs, forensic science, or related field, with one year of experience in biology (DNA) will be considered. A minimum of one year of casework experience, including testimony as an expert witness in the area of STR PCR DNA typing, and familiarity with the ABI 310 CE DNA Sequencer are highly desirable.

 

Applicant must possess knowledge of CODIS, DAB, and ASCLD/LAB regulations, have a strong background in quality assurance systems within crime laboratories, possess knowledge of laws governing rules of evidence and courtroom procedures, be able to communicate effectively orally and in writing, be able to organize and coordinate laboratory activities, be able to effectively supervise laboratory support staff, be able to use computer applications as they relate to laboratory procedures, and possess a valid driver’s license.

 

Responsibilities include conducting DNA casework analysis using PCR STR ABI 310 CE technology, acting as liaison with law enforcement officers, selecting probative exhibit materials, identifying and comparing biological material, writing case reports, and providing court testimony as an expert witness.

   Salary with M.S. degree: $45,834-$87,259/annual

   Salary with B.S. degree: $40,081-$81,505/annual

 

 

Some of our avid Noesis readers may have children (nieces, nephews, grandchildren, etc.) exploring the criminal investigation fields, and certainly the “Associate Chief Medical Examiner” position is worth aspiring to – with a solid 6-digit salary range of USD $97,704 - $170,649 per year.  This is a position presented by the North Carolina Office of the Chief Medical Examiner – seeking applicants.  Qualifications include a Doctor of Medicine degree from an accredited school of medicine; eligibility for the license to practice medicine in North Carolina; completion of residency in hospital pathology and forensic medicine; and Board certification in Anatomical and Forensic Pathology.

 


Animal Group Names - Answers

Editor

 

 

We’ve heard the phrase “A swarm of bees.”  Here we challenge our avid readers to fill in the blank for different “groups” of animals.  Don’t be surprised if you have considerable difficulty!

 

1. a cete of badgers

2. a sloth of bears

3. a sounder of boars

4. a clowder/cluster of cats

5. a drove of cattle

6. a brood of chickens

7. a murder of crows

8. a team of ducks in flight

9. a convocation of eagles

10. a swarm of eels

11. a gang of elk

12. a business of ferrets

13. a shoal of fish

14. an army of frogs

15. a shulk of foxes

16. a colony of gulls

17. a drove of hare

18. a flight of hawk

19. a siege of heron

20. a glean of herring

21. a charm of hummingbirds

22. a band of jays

23. a troop of kangaroos

24. an exaltation of larks

25. a leap of leopards

26. a nest of mice

27. a barren/rake of mules

28. a watch of nightingales

29. a covey of partridges

30. a herd of pigs

31. a school of porpoises

32. a bevy of quail

33. an unkindness of ravens

34. a crash of rhinoceros

35. a crash/herd/pod of seals

36. a host of sparrow

37. a dray of squirrels

38. a chattering of starlings

39. a mustering of stork

40. a wedge of swans

41. a knot of toads

42. a rafter of turkeys

43. a gam of whales

44. a rout of wolves

45. a clew of worms

 


Quotes on Learning

by Joe Griffith

 

 

One of the Barnes & Noble “bargain” books I picked up at Barnes & Noble booksellers a month ago was Joe Griffith’s “Speaker’s Library of Business Stories, Anecdotes, and Humor,” dated 1990; ISBN 0-7607-1956-X.  A few sections are presented here for encouragement and development.

 

LEARNING

 

“The only person who behaves sensibly is my tailor.  He takes new measurements every time he sees me.  All the rest go on with their old measurements.”  George Bernard Shaw

 

“One of the reasons people stop learning is that they become less and less willing to risk failure.”  John W. Gardner

 

“Teaching should be full of ideas, not stuffed with facts.”  John Condry, educator

 

“Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty.  Anyone who keeps learning stays young.”  Henry Ford

 

Everybody can teach you something

 

“I have learned silence from the talkative, toleration from the intolerant, and kindness from the unkind.”  Kahlil Gibran

 

Learn from the mistakes of others

 

“We ought to be able to learn some things second-hand.  There isn’t enough time for us to make all the mistakes ourselves.”  Harriet Hall

 

“It is what we think we know already that often prevents us from learning.”  Claude Bernard

 

“There’s only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that’s your own self.”  Aldous Huxley

 

“You are the same today that you are going to be five years from now except for two things: the people with whom you associate, and the books you read.”  Charles “Tremendous” Jones

 

Never stop learning

 

Theodore Roosevelt died with a book under his pillow, consuming the ideas of others until the very last.

 

Search for a positive lesson

 

“Don’t just learn something from every experience, learn something positive.”  Allen H. Neuharth, founder, USA Today

 

“If a man will begin with certainties, he shall  end in doubts; but if he will be content to begin with doubts, he shall end in certainties.”  Francis Bacon, Advancement of Learning

 


“In the Information Age, flexibility is the critical foundation for success.  Future generations will need more than just mastery of subject matter, they will need mastery of learning.”  Morris Weeks

 

“You have got to be curious as to what makes the whole business tick and have the ambition and desire to fight to get to a place of more responsibility.”  Fred Lazarus, Jr., former chairman, Federated Department Stores

 

“One of the best ways to learn is to fail.  People who are successful often don’t know why they’re successful.  People who have failed a couple of times know where their weak links are and know exactly what are the things that must be avoided.”  Maurice Kirkpatick

 

 

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QUALITY

 

“The quality of your work will have a great deal to do with the quality of your life.”  Orison Swett Marden

 

Quality sells

 

“My overcoats sell my overcoats.”  Monty Platt, Platt Clothiers

 

Quality comes from pride

 

“I consider a bad bottle of Heineken to be a personal insult to me.”  Freddy Heineken

 

Sell quality to workers

 

A sign above each workbench on the production line of a television manufacturing plant said: “Careful, this may be the one you get.”

 

“The quality, not the longevity, of one’s life is what is important.”  Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

“Quality is a necessity for survival.  It means everything to me, and I know it when I see it.”  Richard D. Brogan

 

“Quality is meeting customer expectations at a competitive price.”  Thad A. Barrington

 

“Quality means cultivating a customer that will come to me the next time.”  Robert Carlson

 

“Quality in a service or product is not what you put into it.  It is what the client or customer gets out of it.”  Peter Drucker

 

Quality must be an obsession

 

Ray Kroc was once visiting a Canadian franchise and found a single fly.  Two weeks later, the franchisee lost his McDonald’s franchise.

 

“Quality is not an act.  It is a habit.”  Aristotle

 

Remember the TV commercial: “At Zenith, the quality goes in before the name goes on.”

 

“Hewlett-Packard support services have long been considered ‘products.’ ”  Hewlett-Packard

 


“Quality is viewed more as a focus of the organization itself than as an attribute of goods or services.”  Warner-Lambert

 

“At GE, quality is not a spectator sport – everyone’s involved.”  General Electric

 

“Good quality is cheap; it’s poor quality that is expensive.”  Joe. L. Griffith

 

“The surest foundation of a manufacturing concern is quality.”  Andrew Carnegie

 

Quality pays in any business

 

Alvin Burger had spent much of his life in the pest control business.  He grew dissatisfied with the lack of quality in his industry and pledged to do something about it.  Most of the industry only wanted to control bugs, but Alvin wanted to eliminate them or give money back.  Now Burger has outlets in almost every state and is considered the standard of the industry.  All because he wanted to offer more quality.

 

“There is an old saying in America: ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.’ ”

 

“At Xerox, we’ve replaced that (above quote) with a saying we have borrowed from the Japanese: ‘If it isn’t perfect, make it better.’ ” D. T. Kearns, annual meeting of Xerox shareholders – 1989

 

Don’t ever stop trying to improve

 

“I’ve never been satisfied with anything we’ve ever built.  I’ve felt that dissatisfaction is the basis of progress.  When we become satisfied in business, we become obsolete.”  Bill Marriott, Sr.

 

Quality doesn’t come easy; you have to set high standards

 

Stanley Marcus’s father, the founder of Neiman-Marcus, was always asking how the merchandise offered could be improved.  In an effort to eliminate any flaws in the product before it got to the customer, he established an inspection department – unique in the retail bisiness – in which every article of apparel was tried on a model form to determine if it was cut properly and if there were any defects apparent on close inspection.

 

Concern for quality starts at the top

 

William E. Boeing, Boeing’s founder, spotted defective parts coming down the line.  He swept them onto the floor and cried, “Now make me a good one.”

 

The search for quality can cause short-term problems

 

Few people realize that Ford Motor Company was Henry Ford’s third attempt at making automobiles.  He was voted out in one company and went bankrupt in another.  Henry Ford was ousted from the Henry Ford Company when he insisted on improving the design of the car instead of thinking of short-term profits.  When he was removed by the board of directors, the name was changed to Cadillac Automobile Company.  The Cadillac was originally a Ford.  Later, as we all know, Ford’s quest for a better car paid off.


Management can communicate its emphasis on quality by paying attention to details.  For instance, National Steel requires workers to clean their work stations instead of leaving the task for the janitors.  The Japanese co-owners, who suggested the policy, reasoned that if workers have enough pride to take care of their work stations, they might also care more for their product.

 

A reputation for quality can pay big dividends

 

Stanley Marcus told of the time that Jack Massey of Nashville was trying to get married in Dallas and the judge asked for some local identification.  The bride showed the judge her Neiman-Marcus credit card.  The judge replied: “Well, if your credit is good with them, it’s good with me.”

 

Quality is a conviction.  It can sometimes cost money

 

Debbie Fields, founder of Mrs. Fields Cookies, said “I’m a cookie person, not a business person.”  She once tossed out USD $500 worth of cookies and temporarily closed a store because those she sampled were not up to standard.

 

Make workers responsible for poor quality

 

World War II parachute packers had an unacceptable record: nineteen out of twenty parachutes opened.  The manager discovered that by allowing the packers the pleasure of testing their parachutes by jumping from a plane, quality rose to 100 percent.

 

When cost reduction becomes priority number one, then quality suffers

 

Sometimes doing things that are uneconomical can make more sense than cutting costs, such as the overcommitment to reliability by Caterpillar Tractor who promised “forty-eight-hour parts service anywhere in the world – or CAT pays.”  Maytag’s boast of “Ten years’ trouble-free operation,” or McDonald’s fetish for cleanliness make no economic sense except that they work and have created the leaders in their fields.

 


“German Made Simple” – let’s test it! - Answers

by Editor, Eugene Jackson and Adolph Geiger

 

 

With over ½ million copies sold, the revised (by Robert D. Vanderslice) edition of “German Made Simple” by Eugene Jackson and Adolph Geiger is purported to have a forty-year record of making it easy to learn the German language.  I figured we give them a try!  I selected one lesson and created a ‘matching test’ to exercise the Publisher’s stamp: “Made Simple Books.”  The 8½-inch by 11-inch by ½-inch thick, 190-page paperback book is USD $12.95, originally published in 1965 by Doubleday, a division of Random House, Inc.; ISBN 0-385-19911-2.  We hope to present another ‘matching’ test in the combined Noesis issue #174 (October)/#175 (November).

 

WER IST HERR CLARK?

WHO IS MR. CLARK?

1

Robert Clark ist Kaufmann.

5

However, he does not live in New York.

2

Er ist Amerikaner.

7

Mr. Clark is married.

3

Er ist kein Deutscher.

9

Mr. and Mrs. Clark have four children, two boys and two girls.

4

Sein Buro ist in New York.

12

Mr. Clark is forty years old.

5

Er wohnt aber nicht in New York.

19

Anna does not go to school.

6

Der Vorort, wo die Familie Clark wohnt, ist nicht weit von New York.

13

His wife is thirty-six years old.

7

Herr Clark ist verheiratet.

14

Charles is twelve years old.

8

Seine Frau heisst Helene Clark.

18

All except Anna go to school.

9

Herr und Frau Clark haben vier Kinder, zwei Knaben und zwei Madchen.

3

He is not a German.

10

Die Knaben heissen Karl und Wilhelm.

2

He is an American.

11

Die Madchen heissen Marie und Anna.

16

Mary is eight years old.

12

Herr Clark ist vierzig Jahre alt.

20

She is still too young for school.

13

Seine Frau ist sechsunddreissig Jahre alt.

17

Anna is five years old.

14

Karl ist zwolf Jahre alt.

1

Robert Clark is a merchant.

15

Wilhelm ist zehn Jahre alt.

11

The girls are named Mary and Anna.

16

Marie ist acht Jahre alt.

6

The suburb where the Clark family lives is not far from New York.

17

Anna ist funf Jahre alt.

8

His wife’s name is Helen Clark.

18

Alle ausser Anna gehen zur Schule.

10

The boys are named Charles and William.

19

Anna geht nicht zur Schule.

4

His office is in New York.

20

Sie ist noch zu jung fur die Schule.

15

William is ten years old.

pages 22-23.