Keyword: dividing

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  • 1200-year-old problem 'easy' [dividing by zero]

    12/08/2006 12:20:06 PM PST · by LibWhacker · 332 replies · 5,393+ views
    BBC ^ | 12/8/06
    Schoolchildren from Caversham have become the first to learn a brand new theory that dividing by zero is possible using a new number - 'nullity'. But the suggestion has left many mathematicians cold. Dr James Anderson, from the University of Reading's computer science department, says his new theorem solves an extremely important problem - the problem of nothing. "Imagine you're landing on an aeroplane and the automatic pilot's working," he suggests. "If it divides by zero and the computer stops working - you're in big trouble. If your heart pacemaker divides by zero, you're dead." Computers simply cannot divide by...