Roman Black wrote: > >All my life I have been rounding at 555, under the >false impression that 5 is "half way" in decimal >terms... Wow. > >I asked my 26 yr old science-degreed girlfriend how >to round and she looked at me like I was stupid. >"5 or more, round up". She was taught correctly. > >Now I'm wondering if it is mainly us old-timers >from the dawn of pocket calculators age that were >taught wrong?? Any thoughts, older people?? >:o) >-Roman > > Early Bronze Age recollections: I was taught to go just one decimal beyond the digit to be rounded. Four or less rounds down, 5 or more rounds up. We were specifically taught that it doesn't matter what's beyond that first digit. Whether the digit being rounded is odd or even was never mentioned as being significant. Bob _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com -- http://www.piclist.com hint: To leave the PICList mailto:piclist-unsubscribe-request@mitvma.mit.edu