Fermi Mathematics

This is a really intersting branch of Mathematics.

Fermi Enrico was a great physicist. He won the Nobel prize for physics in 1938. He directed the first controlled chain nuclear reaction in US.

He liked to solve problems which apparently didn't have enough given information. Problems like : "How many strands of hair are there on the head"
He of course solved such problems related to physics.
He estimated the strength of an atomic bomb tested by dropping few pieces of paper on the ground and observing how much distance they travelled!!
See http://www2.vo.lu/homepages/geko/atom/report.htm


The trick is to estimate the unknowns and to make calculated guesses. I you over estimate in one calculation, you will make it up by underestimating some other value, provided of course that you have a large number of estimations to make.

Here is a good link for more resources:
http://www.int287.k12.mn.us/gifted/fermitips.html

We should have Fermi maths in engineering. It would help us at making better estimates than becoming Formuholics.