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.