#11
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Arthur C.Clarke
I had not even heard of O-levels
at 15, for my secondary modern did not take any exams at all. If you lived long enough to get your certificate of eligibility which ensured that no longer would you have to have to legally attend school, and could more-or-less read your own name, write it and work out the change from a pound having bought something for three and fourpence ha'penny, you were all set for 'life'. (My tongue was in cheek just a little, there!) How true, I was told "there's no point in you learning your tables, - you'll always have your slide rule " (this was 6 months before (Sir) Clive Sinclair brought out his "pocket calculator" ) jc --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.497 / Virus Database: 296 - Release Date: 04/07/2003 |
#12
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Arthur C.Clarke
Dr Robin Bignall wrote:
I did not say that I got a bad education; merely that my school did not take exams. In fact, the majority of my teachers were ex-service, and vastly overqualified for teaching young erks such as me. The guy who taught me maths was an ex-regular soldier who had been a gunnery instructor. What he didn't know about the sort of maths I needed at 15 wasn't worth knowing. SNIP Forgive my presumption. Cheers Martin -------------- Martin Frey N 51 02 E 0 47 -------------- |
#13
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Arthur C.Clarke
Dr Robin Bignall wrote:
I did not say that I got a bad education; merely that my school did not take exams. In fact, the majority of my teachers were ex-service, and vastly overqualified for teaching young erks such as me. The guy who taught me maths was an ex-regular soldier who had been a gunnery instructor. What he didn't know about the sort of maths I needed at 15 wasn't worth knowing. SNIP Forgive my presumption. Cheers Martin -------------- Martin Frey N 51 02 E 0 47 -------------- |
#14
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Arthur C.Clarke
JRS: In article , seen in
news:uk.sci.astronomy, Dr Robin Bignall posted at Mon, 7 Jul 2003 09:59:54 :- I know the name Wiley Ley well, but cannot remember much. Will have a google after this. Seeking "Willy Ley" might be more effective. -- © John Stockton, Surrey, UK. Turnpike v4.00 MIME. © Web URL:http://www.merlyn.demon.co.uk/ - FAQqish topics, acronyms & links; some Astro stuff via astro.htm, gravity0.htm; quotes.htm; pascal.htm; &c, &c. No Encoding. Quotes before replies. Snip well. Write clearly. Don't Mail News. |
#15
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Arthur C.Clarke
JRS: In article , seen in
news:uk.sci.astronomy, Dr Robin Bignall posted at Mon, 7 Jul 2003 09:59:54 :- I know the name Wiley Ley well, but cannot remember much. Will have a google after this. Seeking "Willy Ley" might be more effective. -- © John Stockton, Surrey, UK. Turnpike v4.00 MIME. © Web URL:http://www.merlyn.demon.co.uk/ - FAQqish topics, acronyms & links; some Astro stuff via astro.htm, gravity0.htm; quotes.htm; pascal.htm; &c, &c. No Encoding. Quotes before replies. Snip well. Write clearly. Don't Mail News. |
#16
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Arthur C.Clarke
On Mon, 7 Jul 2003 20:13:59 +0100, Jonathan Silverlight
wrote: In message , Dr Robin Bignall writes It is quite hard to judge how the future, even 20 years, will develop. In 1963 I saw my first Startrek, with Kirk flipping his portable phone. That's quite a trick, when it wasn't even premiered until 1966. It wasn't shown here for some years. That is weird! My memory tells me that I saw my first Star trek not long after I got married, which was Dec 7, 1963. I was sure it was while we were living in Muswell Hill in a flat, from which we moved to a house in south London 1967. It could not have been in the States, because my first trip was in 1969. Obviously my memory is wrong, but it could not have been after 1972, for we emigrated to France at the end of that year. I stayed 15 years, and my family is still there. So your 'some years' cannot have been too many! I remember the episode. One of the crew (I think) developed extra-sensory powers, and when he used them his eyes glowed. It was so much better than Dr Who (which I thought was rubbish, probably because I've been reading serious SF and fantasy since I was nine)) and other 'made-for-TV' SF, that I was spellbound. -- wrmst rgrds Robin Bignall Quiet part of Hertfordshire England http://homepage.ntlworld.com/docrobin/homepage.htm |
#17
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Arthur C.Clarke
On Mon, 7 Jul 2003 20:13:59 +0100, Jonathan Silverlight
wrote: In message , Dr Robin Bignall writes It is quite hard to judge how the future, even 20 years, will develop. In 1963 I saw my first Startrek, with Kirk flipping his portable phone. That's quite a trick, when it wasn't even premiered until 1966. It wasn't shown here for some years. That is weird! My memory tells me that I saw my first Star trek not long after I got married, which was Dec 7, 1963. I was sure it was while we were living in Muswell Hill in a flat, from which we moved to a house in south London 1967. It could not have been in the States, because my first trip was in 1969. Obviously my memory is wrong, but it could not have been after 1972, for we emigrated to France at the end of that year. I stayed 15 years, and my family is still there. So your 'some years' cannot have been too many! I remember the episode. One of the crew (I think) developed extra-sensory powers, and when he used them his eyes glowed. It was so much better than Dr Who (which I thought was rubbish, probably because I've been reading serious SF and fantasy since I was nine)) and other 'made-for-TV' SF, that I was spellbound. -- wrmst rgrds Robin Bignall Quiet part of Hertfordshire England http://homepage.ntlworld.com/docrobin/homepage.htm |
#18
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Arthur C.Clarke
Dear robin,
I did enjoy the reference to celestial mechanics in " The Day the Earth Stood Still": " Just expand in a power series, all terms beyond the third are negligible and then apply the method of reduction of order." " How do you know all terms beyond the third are negligible?" " Well, it works well enough to get me from one planet to another." best Penny Almost as much fun as the episode of " The Time Tunnel" where Hamilton's Equations appear on a 1910 blackboard to calculate the orbit of Halley's Comet. "The Day the Earth Stood Still" (1951) they thought that 4000 mph was super-fast and 250 million miles away a huge distance; the fact that the film was a cop-out Right. or in the original story it was the robot which was the life-form, and Michael Rennie was just a robot they had created to look human so as not to scare the natives! And the movie was a retelling of the Christ story ( Mr. Carpenter etc.) In the 1930s, the world of the future would have us all using personal transport in the form of helicopters at least, if we'd been too slow to discover anti-gravity by now. Where are they? There is an American prototype of a decent flying car on the cover of last month's "New Scientist". I think the major redesign would have to be of the American driver! This is based on my experience with the impatient and insane drivers here in New Jersey. I don't want those people flying over my house. |
#19
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Arthur C.Clarke
Dear robin,
I did enjoy the reference to celestial mechanics in " The Day the Earth Stood Still": " Just expand in a power series, all terms beyond the third are negligible and then apply the method of reduction of order." " How do you know all terms beyond the third are negligible?" " Well, it works well enough to get me from one planet to another." best Penny Almost as much fun as the episode of " The Time Tunnel" where Hamilton's Equations appear on a 1910 blackboard to calculate the orbit of Halley's Comet. "The Day the Earth Stood Still" (1951) they thought that 4000 mph was super-fast and 250 million miles away a huge distance; the fact that the film was a cop-out Right. or in the original story it was the robot which was the life-form, and Michael Rennie was just a robot they had created to look human so as not to scare the natives! And the movie was a retelling of the Christ story ( Mr. Carpenter etc.) In the 1930s, the world of the future would have us all using personal transport in the form of helicopters at least, if we'd been too slow to discover anti-gravity by now. Where are they? There is an American prototype of a decent flying car on the cover of last month's "New Scientist". I think the major redesign would have to be of the American driver! This is based on my experience with the impatient and insane drivers here in New Jersey. I don't want those people flying over my house. |
#20
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Arthur C.Clarke
Dear Martin,
Here in America, secondary school standards have gone down. But, we now educate a larger proportion of the population. And, I keep expecting my students to have the sort of education that I had at Bronx High School of Science in the 1960's. That is unfair, since this school is probably the best school in the USA. best Penny Still, whatever happened to spherical trig, solid geometry, and the law of tangents in the high schools C.,? Instituting A levels here, would be a BIG improvement. There is starting to be some use of the international Bac., at the better schools. It's hard to believe the people actually think standards have gone down - they have utterly forgotten what education was really like for half to three-quarters of the population. Right. In America, high schools were rather good in my dad's day ( 1930's) when 2% of the population achieved a college prep degree. They are somewhat worse now that 75% of the population achieves a college prep degree. Oh, Horrors, the sky is falling. |
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