University Survey

[guydarryl]

Done - O level and log tables for me

[slinger]

I remember on my Maths 'O' Level paper there was a note stipulating that electronic calculators must NOT be used. By the time my son took his the note had changed to say that calculators MUST be used.

[scotty38]

I may be wrong but I seem to think I had multiple papers and one was "with calculator" not sure though. This would have been O level in 1978.....

[Geoff.R.G]

I remember on my Maths 'O' Level paper there was a note stipulating that electronic calculators must NOT be used. By the time my son took his the note had changed to say that calculators MUST be used.

I still have my Sinclair Scientific, last time I powered up it worked, sort of because I can't remember the Polish notation it required to make it any use! The first pocket calculator was released in 1972, the year after I took my O Levels so there was no possibility of my using one.

[guydarryl]

Is it inverse Polish notation?

If so, then:

2 x 2 =

Becomes:

2 + 2 x

[guydarryl]

Brilliant display on the old Sinclair - I remember waving one around in the dark for a personal hippy light show

[slinger]

I remember on my Maths 'O' Level paper there was a note stipulating that electronic calculators must NOT be used. By the time my son took his the note had changed to say that calculators MUST be used.

I still have my Sinclair Scientific, last time I powered up it worked, sort of because I can't remember the Polish notation it required to make it any use! The first pocket calculator was released in 1972, the year after I took my O Levels so there was no possibility of my using one.

Bloody Hell, I haven't thought about RPN in... I honestly don't know how long. I wonder if I wasn't misremembering as I must have taken my maths 'O' in '69 It must have been my maths 'A' paper that had that note. All I can remember about my first calculator is that it was blue/grey with a red led display and very few functions.

[Fretless]

I remember having one of these, or something very similar.

You could program it to play a sort of moon-lander game.

[Geoff.R.G]

Is it inverse Polish notation?

If so, then:

2 x 2 =

Becomes:

2 + 2 x

Spot on, I looked it up and your quite correct RPN it is, no I wonder where the calculator is hiding? I do remember it ate AAA batteries pretty quickly and my iPhone has a much superior calculator anyway.

[Geoff.R.G]

I remember on my Maths 'O' Level paper there was a note stipulating that electronic calculators must NOT be used. By the time my son took his the note had changed to say that calculators MUST be used.

I still have my Sinclair Scientific, last time I powered up it worked, sort of because I can't remember the Polish notation it required to make it any use! The first pocket calculator was released in 1972, the year after I took my O Levels so there was no possibility of my using one.

Bloody Hell, I haven't thought about RPN in... I honestly don't know how long. I wonder if I wasn't misremembering as I must have taken my maths 'O' in '69 It must have been my maths 'A' paper that had that note. All I can remember about my first calculator is that it was blue/grey with a red led display and very few functions.

Something amiss there, if you did O levels in '69 the A levels would probably have been '71 and pocket calculators weren't around until '72.