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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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"Meet me in the law library," says Jackie.
And dear lady, what brings you there? Is your research recherche*, or of more general interest?
And cross-threading to research of general interest: I have just learned that the french word similar to "promiscuity" means simply overcrowded; too much close proximity; no privacy. It has no sexual content, and so ladies can be promiscuous without being embarrassed.
Or as spanish speakers would say (right, 'suela?), without being embarrassado.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
oddly, recherche is todays word of the day on www.dictionary.com
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Joined: Mar 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Ok, I finally had it hammered into my skull: John (Jhone) Napier invented logarithims, in between other interests, apparently. http://www-groups.dcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Napier.htmlIgnorance, thy name is Jackie. Okay, Aunt mav--what sort of word posts would you like?
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Is your research recherche
According to this def., it is: 2. Exquisite; choice.
[studiously ignoring rest of post e]
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Joined: Aug 2001
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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and logarithms convert a mulipication problem into an addition problem. Thus with logs, an adder can multiply.
"Napier's bones" were sticks on which numbers were written such positions such that the sticks, manipulated properly, would solve multiplication problems. (think "slide rule")
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Carpal Tunnel
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Thus with logs, an adder can multiplyNot according to the biology I learned... 
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Re:Napier's bones" were sticks on which numbers were written such positions such that the sticks, manipulated properly, would solve multiplication problems. (think "slide rule")
the example i saw of Napiers Bones (first made on a irory--giving rise to the name of bones) looked more like an old fashioned adding machine. you had to position a crank, (say to the 10's column)and then crank it 8 times to multiply by 80. Oops.. first you had to enter a number say 743,in the starting postion, or regiser, to be multilpied by 87.. then you postioned the crank and rotated it 8 times, repostitioned it (to the ones' column) and cranked it 4 more times. Voila the number in the register was not 743-- your starting number but 62412.
i still remember when stores had mechical adding machines that need to be cranked X number of times to add or multily a number.
and while napiers bones did lead to the slide rule, there is no physical resemblance.
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Carpal Tunnel
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>Thus with logs, an adder can multiply
Not according to the biology I learned..
That's right. They used the logarithm method.
TEd
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Carpal Tunnel
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They used the logarithm method.Hmm---that could give rise to a whole new meaning for the term "snake oil"... 
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