tems) how he came to invent his math code:
Nemeth Code is the code for mathematics and
scientific notation in North America. During my
years of studying and teaching mathematics, I developed a great respect for Dr. Abraham Nemeth,
who had developed this Braille code. He has had
a very active academic career in mathematics
and computer science, and he remains very active in his retirement. I was delighted that he
agreed to talk with us about the background of
the Nemeth Code and about himself.
Q. How did you get involved with developing the
Nemeth Code?
A.I began working on my Braille math code in
1946 or 1947. At that time I had a day job at the
American Foundation for the Blind (AFB), and I
was taking night classes in math at Brooklyn College. Boys were returning home from World War
II and going back to school. Many of them had
passed Calculus I before the war and were now
taking Calculus II. After that long interruption they
needed some extra help. There was a room with
a large blackboard where volunteers helped them
with their math problems. Each student stationed
himself at one panel of the blackboard and wrote
out the problem he wanted help with. I was one of
the volunteers. I asked the student to read me the
problem, and then I worked out the solution on
the blackboard. I didn't find it difficult to write on
the blackboard. Apparently the chairman of the
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