They're Counting on You

摘要

I remember my first calculator in grade school. It could do all the basic mathematical functions. My teacher, Sister Mary Vincent, was adamantly against us using calculators. No matter how clever or rational our arguments seemed, we were unable to convince her to give in. She would say, "You need to be proficient at doing math by hand and in your head. There will come a time when calculators will be allowed—but not now." At the time we thought she was archaic; but now, I understand her rationale (more on this later). Today there are calculators for algebra and calculus, graphing, taxes, investments, retirement, mortgages and even hydraulics. They're found in laptops, cell phones, wrist watches and even pens!