Note: If it's convenient, and you have a smartphone, laptop, or tablet, bring it. We'll want to be able to all look up data efficiently, and I want some folks to run races against calculators. :)
I have a whole slew of stuff I'd like to talk about, and possibly even some things to test.
Short topics we'll cover:
Fermi problems: How to get rough numbers for things you're interested in, without actually knowing much hard data.
Fast mental math: How to compute Fermi estimates in your head, quickly.
Value of information: How to estimate when doing more work to find more information is likely to be useful.
Some tests/experiments/kind-of-games I'd like to try:
Is fast mental math actually useful if you have a glowing rectangle handy? I suspect it is, and will happily race some calculators to see if it is so.
In what situations do Fermi estimates even make sense? Do we have questions that are actually better answered with roughly-guessed numbers, rather than data from the nearest source of internet?
Then one day a salesman came along to the camp. He had a steam-powered drill and claimed it could out-drill any man. Well, they set up a contest then and there between John Henry and that there drill. The foreman ran that newfangled steam-drill. John Henry, he just pulled out two 20-pound hammers, one in each hand. They drilled and drilled, dust rising everywhere. The men were howling and cheering. At the end of 35 minutes, John Henry had drilled two seven foot holes - a total of fourteen feet, while the steam drill had only drilled one nine-foot hole.
Discussion article for the meetup : Madison: Rough Numbers
WHEN: 22 July 2012 07:00:00PM (-0500)
WHERE: 302 S Mills St, Apt 5, Madison, WI
Note: If it's convenient, and you have a smartphone, laptop, or tablet, bring it. We'll want to be able to all look up data efficiently, and I want some folks to run races against calculators. :)
I have a whole slew of stuff I'd like to talk about, and possibly even some things to test.
Short topics we'll cover:
Some tests/experiments/kind-of-games I'd like to try:
Discussion article for the meetup : Madison: Rough Numbers