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The Trachtenberg Speed System of Basic Mathematics: The revolutionary new method for high-speed multiplication, division, addition, subtraction, and square root
The teacher called on a nine-year-old boy who marched firmly to the blackboard upon which was a list of numbers a yard long. Standing on tiptoe to reach the top, he arrived at the total with what seemed the speed of light.
A small girl with beribboned braids was asked to find the solution of 735352314 times 11. She came up with the correct answer—8088875454—in less time than you can say multiplication table. A thin, studious-looking boy wearing silver-rimmed spectacles was told to multiply 5132437201 times 452736502785. He blitzed through the problem, computing the answer—2323641669144374104785—in seventy seconds.
The class was one where the Trachtenberg system of mathematics is taught. What made the exhibition of mathematical wizardry more amazing was that these were children who had repeatedly failed in arithmetic until, in desperation, their parents sent them to learn this method.
The late Jakow Trachtenberg, founder of the Mathematical Institute in Zurich, Switzerland, and originator of the startling new system of arithmetic, was of the firm opinion that everyone comes into the world with "phenomenal calculation possibilities."
The Trachtenberg method is not only speedy but simple. Once one has mastered the rules, lightning calculation is as easy as reading a story. It looks like magic, but the rules are based on sound logic.
A small girl with beribboned braids was asked to find the solution of 735352314 times 11. She came up with the correct answer—8088875454—in less time than you can say multiplication table. A thin, studious-looking boy wearing silver-rimmed spectacles was told to multiply 5132437201 times 452736502785. He blitzed through the problem, computing the answer—2323641669144374104785—in seventy seconds.
The class was one where the Trachtenberg system of mathematics is taught. What made the exhibition of mathematical wizardry more amazing was that these were children who had repeatedly failed in arithmetic until, in desperation, their parents sent them to learn this method.
The late Jakow Trachtenberg, founder of the Mathematical Institute in Zurich, Switzerland, and originator of the startling new system of arithmetic, was of the firm opinion that everyone comes into the world with "phenomenal calculation possibilities."
The Trachtenberg method is not only speedy but simple. Once one has mastered the rules, lightning calculation is as easy as reading a story. It looks like magic, but the rules are based on sound logic.
- GenresMathematics
270 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 21, 2016
15 people are currently reading
64 people want to read
About the author
Jakow Trachtenberg
7 books11 followersThe late Jakow Trachtenberg, founder of the Mathematical Institute in Zurich, Switzerland, and originator of the startling new system of arithmetic, was of firm opinion that everyone comes into the world with 'phenomenal calculation possibilities.'
Trachtenberg married Countess Alice, a member of the [German] aristocracy. An outspoken pacifist, Trachtenberg wrote Das Friedensministerium, a widely read work, which brought him the plaudits of such statesmen as Roosevelt, Masaryk, and Van Zeeland.
Trachtenberg, a brilliant engineer with an ingenious mind, originated his system of simplified mathematics while spending years in Hitler's concentration camps as a political prisoner.
Trachtenberg died in 1953.
Trachtenberg married Countess Alice, a member of the [German] aristocracy. An outspoken pacifist, Trachtenberg wrote Das Friedensministerium, a widely read work, which brought him the plaudits of such statesmen as Roosevelt, Masaryk, and Van Zeeland.
Trachtenberg, a brilliant engineer with an ingenious mind, originated his system of simplified mathematics while spending years in Hitler's concentration camps as a political prisoner.
Trachtenberg died in 1953.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
August 31, 2022
Awesome! I have been through many levels of mathematics throughout my education and often understood the concepts easily. However, my confidence in understanding was almost always thwarted and converted to insecurity after working problems to completion and finding my solutions to be in error. Frequently, I would review my work and find that whole swaths of calculations were thrown off because of a tiny arithmetic error. This process made mathematics a drudgery. The Trachtenberg system teaches a new way of thinking about arithmetic and allows the mathematician to work traditional problems more quickly and with surety using several checking operations to verify answers. I wish that I had learned this system when I was a child and I plan on teaching whichever one of my teenage kids wants to learn as soon as possible.
Displaying 1 of 1 review