This book is from 1917. Scroll down to page 319 to see West Point's entrance exam from then. Holy crap! While I knew much and now know much more, I doubt I could have passed such a test cold at age 18--and perhaps even now! I'd have to study, especially the sections on grammar and literature. And to be honest, I'm not even sure what the third question in the Algebra section is asking, as there's no exponent on the binomial.
It's a pretty impressive test, and those that pass it (as teenagers!) would be impressive people.
Have you ever read the Cryptonomicon by Stephenson? There's a scene where one of the main characters is doing an aptitude test in the Navy:
ReplyDeleteThe first question had to do with boats on a river...
...Lawrence immediately saw that it was a trick question. You would have to be some kind of idiot to make the facile assumption that the current would add or subtract 5 miles per hour to or from the speed of the boat...It was a question of hydrodynamics, which could be tackled using certain well-known systems of differential equations...Along the way, he realized that one of his assumptions, in combination with the simplified Navier-Stokes equations, had led him into an exploration of a particularly interesting family of partial differential equations. Before he knew it, he had proved a new theorem. If that didn't prove his intelligence, what would?...
...He took it back to his dorm, typed it up and mailed it to one of the more approachable math professors at Princeton, who promptly arranged for it to be published in a Parisian mathematics journal.
Of course, he never got past that question and was assigned to play in a band.
Sounds like a fun read!
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