an amazing man.. THOMAS FULLER (1710-1790) Thomas Fuller, often called “the Virginia Calculator,” was born in 1710, somewhere between the “S***e Coast” of West Africa (present-day...

permafrost Loc: Minnesota

THOMAS FULLER (1710-1790)
Thomas Fuller, often called “the Virginia Calculator,” was born in 1710, somewhere between the “S***e Coast” of West Africa (present-day Liberia) and the Kingdom of Dahomey (modern-day Benin). When the pre-colonial scramble for s***es replaced the earlier trade in gold, Fuller was snatched from his native land, sold as a s***e, and brought to Colonial America in 1724, at age 14. Although considered “illiterate” because he could not read and write in English, he consistently demonstrated an unusual talent for solving complex math problems in his head. Northern Virginia planters, Presley and Elizabeth Cox, both of whom were also “illiterate,” quickly recognized his surprising abilities and put them to use in every phase of the management of their 232-acre plantation farm, about four miles from Alexandria, Virginia.
Working as a field s***e for most of his adult life, it was generally believed that Fuller must have taught himself how to calculate early in life probably as a child in West Africa. In an environment where s***es were forbidden to learn to read and write, he explained his sk**l as coming from experimental applications around the farm such as counting the hairs in a cow’s tail or counting grains in bushels of wheat or flax seed. Allegedly, he also figured out a new way of multiplying how far apart objects were, wading into complex astronomy-related computations, now carried out by computer. Not surprisingly his owners refused numerous offers to purchase Fuller because they had come to depend on his amazing abilities to measure things with his mind, alone.
In 1780, when Fuller was 70 years old, a Pennsylvania businessman and a couple of associates, on hearing of his extraordinary genius, traveled to Alexandria to meet him. Out of curiosity, they asked a few questions. Two were noteworthy: (1) how many seconds were in a year and a half? And, (2) how many seconds had a man lived who is 70 years, 17 days and 12 hours old? When he correctly answered 47,304,000 and 2,210,500,800, respectively, in less than two minutes each time, one of the men objected, citing his own calculations were much smaller. Fuller quickly responded, “(Stop), Massa, you forget de leap year.” When the observer adjusted for the extra day every four years, they grudgingly accepted Fuller’s answer. Their observations of Fuller’s computational abilities were later submitted to the Abolitionist Society of Pennsylvania.
Fuller died on the Cox farm near Alexandria, Virginia in 1790. He was 80. The Columbian Centinel, a Boston, Massachusetts newspaper noted in its obituary of Fuller: “Thus died ‘Negro Tom,’ this self-taught arithmetician, this untutored Scholar! — Had his opportunities of improvement been equal to those of thousands of his fellow-men, neither the Royal Society of London, the Academy of Science at Paris, nor even Newton himself, need have been ashamed to acknowledge him a Brother in Science.”

Capt-jack Loc: Home

permafrost wrote:

THOMAS FULLER (1710-1790)
Thomas Fuller, often called “the Virginia Calculator,” was born in 1710, somewhere between the “S***e Coast” of West Africa (present-day Liberia) and the Kingdom of Dahomey (modern-day Benin). When the pre-colonial scramble for s***es replaced the earlier trade in gold, Fuller was snatched from his native land, sold as a s***e, and brought to Colonial America in 1724, at age 14. Although considered “illiterate” because he could not read and write in English, he consistently demonstrated an unusual talent for solving complex math problems in his head. Northern Virginia planters, Presley and Elizabeth Cox, both of whom were also “illiterate,” quickly recognized his surprising abilities and put them to use in every phase of the management of their 232-acre plantation farm, about four miles from Alexandria, Virginia.
Working as a field s***e for most of his adult life, it was generally believed that Fuller must have taught himself how to calculate early in life probably as a child in West Africa. In an environment where s***es were forbidden to learn to read and write, he explained his sk**l as coming from experimental applications around the farm such as counting the hairs in a cow’s tail or counting grains in bushels of wheat or flax seed. Allegedly, he also figured out a new way of multiplying how far apart objects were, wading into complex astronomy-related computations, now carried out by computer. Not surprisingly his owners refused numerous offers to purchase Fuller because they had come to depend on his amazing abilities to measure things with his mind, alone.
In 1780, when Fuller was 70 years old, a Pennsylvania businessman and a couple of associates, on hearing of his extraordinary genius, traveled to Alexandria to meet him. Out of curiosity, they asked a few questions. Two were noteworthy: (1) how many seconds were in a year and a half? And, (2) how many seconds had a man lived who is 70 years, 17 days and 12 hours old? When he correctly answered 47,304,000 and 2,210,500,800, respectively, in less than two minutes each time, one of the men objected, citing his own calculations were much smaller. Fuller quickly responded, “(Stop), Massa, you forget de leap year.” When the observer adjusted for the extra day every four years, they grudgingly accepted Fuller’s answer. Their observations of Fuller’s computational abilities were later submitted to the Abolitionist Society of Pennsylvania.
Fuller died on the Cox farm near Alexandria, Virginia in 1790. He was 80. The Columbian Centinel, a Boston, Massachusetts newspaper noted in its obituary of Fuller: “Thus died ‘Negro Tom,’ this self-taught arithmetician, this untutored Scholar! — Had his opportunities of improvement been equal to those of thousands of his fellow-men, neither the Royal Society of London, the Academy of Science at Paris, nor even Newton himself, need have been ashamed to acknowledge him a Brother in Science.”

THOMAS FULLER (1710-1790) br Thomas Fuller, often ... (show quote)

I am happy you have taken up reading American history!
There may be hope for you.

permafrost Loc: Minnesota

Capt-jack wrote:

I am happy you have taken up reading American history!
There may be hope for you.

Yes, I do like history,, In this case, the fellow was very unusual and I felt many would find it interesting.. I am glad you were one of those..

Wonttakeitanymore

permafrost wrote:

THOMAS FULLER (1710-1790)
Thomas Fuller, often called “the Virginia Calculator,” was born in 1710, somewhere between the “S***e Coast” of West Africa (present-day Liberia) and the Kingdom of Dahomey (modern-day Benin). When the pre-colonial scramble for s***es replaced the earlier trade in gold, Fuller was snatched from his native land, sold as a s***e, and brought to Colonial America in 1724, at age 14. Although considered “illiterate” because he could not read and write in English, he consistently demonstrated an unusual talent for solving complex math problems in his head. Northern Virginia planters, Presley and Elizabeth Cox, both of whom were also “illiterate,” quickly recognized his surprising abilities and put them to use in every phase of the management of their 232-acre plantation farm, about four miles from Alexandria, Virginia.
Working as a field s***e for most of his adult life, it was generally believed that Fuller must have taught himself how to calculate early in life probably as a child in West Africa. In an environment where s***es were forbidden to learn to read and write, he explained his sk**l as coming from experimental applications around the farm such as counting the hairs in a cow’s tail or counting grains in bushels of wheat or flax seed. Allegedly, he also figured out a new way of multiplying how far apart objects were, wading into complex astronomy-related computations, now carried out by computer. Not surprisingly his owners refused numerous offers to purchase Fuller because they had come to depend on his amazing abilities to measure things with his mind, alone.
In 1780, when Fuller was 70 years old, a Pennsylvania businessman and a couple of associates, on hearing of his extraordinary genius, traveled to Alexandria to meet him. Out of curiosity, they asked a few questions. Two were noteworthy: (1) how many seconds were in a year and a half? And, (2) how many seconds had a man lived who is 70 years, 17 days and 12 hours old? When he correctly answered 47,304,000 and 2,210,500,800, respectively, in less than two minutes each time, one of the men objected, citing his own calculations were much smaller. Fuller quickly responded, “(Stop), Massa, you forget de leap year.” When the observer adjusted for the extra day every four years, they grudgingly accepted Fuller’s answer. Their observations of Fuller’s computational abilities were later submitted to the Abolitionist Society of Pennsylvania.
Fuller died on the Cox farm near Alexandria, Virginia in 1790. He was 80. The Columbian Centinel, a Boston, Massachusetts newspaper noted in its obituary of Fuller: “Thus died ‘Negro Tom,’ this self-taught arithmetician, this untutored Scholar! — Had his opportunities of improvement been equal to those of thousands of his fellow-men, neither the Royal Society of London, the Academy of Science at Paris, nor even Newton himself, need have been ashamed to acknowledge him a Brother in Science.”

THOMAS FULLER (1710-1790) br Thomas Fuller, often ... (show quote)

Im sure all the folks that suffered from s***ery from Israelites to Indian would also feel the same! Very sad the demonrats want all of us to be the same! Is that why they quit teaching math in school?

Wonttakeitanymore

permafrost wrote:

Yes, I do like history,, In this case, the fellow was very unusual and I felt many would find it interesting.. I am glad you were one of those..

It’s always sad to see missed opportunities! I hope he was treated well!

Rose42

permafrost wrote:

THOMAS FULLER (1710-1790)
Thomas Fuller, often called “the Virginia Calculator,” was born in 1710, somewhere between the “S***e Coast” of West Africa (present-day Liberia) and the Kingdom of Dahomey (modern-day Benin). When the pre-colonial scramble for s***es replaced the earlier trade in gold, Fuller was snatched from his native land, sold as a s***e, and brought to Colonial America in 1724, at age 14. Although considered “illiterate” because he could not read and write in English, he consistently demonstrated an unusual talent for solving complex math problems in his head. Northern Virginia planters, Presley and Elizabeth Cox, both of whom were also “illiterate,” quickly recognized his surprising abilities and put them to use in every phase of the management of their 232-acre plantation farm, about four miles from Alexandria, Virginia.
Working as a field s***e for most of his adult life, it was generally believed that Fuller must have taught himself how to calculate early in life probably as a child in West Africa. In an environment where s***es were forbidden to learn to read and write, he explained his sk**l as coming from experimental applications around the farm such as counting the hairs in a cow’s tail or counting grains in bushels of wheat or flax seed. Allegedly, he also figured out a new way of multiplying how far apart objects were, wading into complex astronomy-related computations, now carried out by computer. Not surprisingly his owners refused numerous offers to purchase Fuller because they had come to depend on his amazing abilities to measure things with his mind, alone.
In 1780, when Fuller was 70 years old, a Pennsylvania businessman and a couple of associates, on hearing of his extraordinary genius, traveled to Alexandria to meet him. Out of curiosity, they asked a few questions. Two were noteworthy: (1) how many seconds were in a year and a half? And, (2) how many seconds had a man lived who is 70 years, 17 days and 12 hours old? When he correctly answered 47,304,000 and 2,210,500,800, respectively, in less than two minutes each time, one of the men objected, citing his own calculations were much smaller. Fuller quickly responded, “(Stop), Massa, you forget de leap year.” When the observer adjusted for the extra day every four years, they grudgingly accepted Fuller’s answer. Their observations of Fuller’s computational abilities were later submitted to the Abolitionist Society of Pennsylvania.
Fuller died on the Cox farm near Alexandria, Virginia in 1790. He was 80. The Columbian Centinel, a Boston, Massachusetts newspaper noted in its obituary of Fuller: “Thus died ‘Negro Tom,’ this self-taught arithmetician, this untutored Scholar! — Had his opportunities of improvement been equal to those of thousands of his fellow-men, neither the Royal Society of London, the Academy of Science at Paris, nor even Newton himself, need have been ashamed to acknowledge him a Brother in Science.”

THOMAS FULLER (1710-1790) br Thomas Fuller, often ... (show quote)

I read that earlier today. Great post! Remarkable man.