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Exam
Name___________________________________
MULTIPLE CHOICE. Choose the one alternative that best completes the statement or answers the question.
1) Select the statement that is not true.
A) If a firm is operating profitably, it will automatically have plenty of cash.
B) The concept of cash underpinning the statement of cash flows is 'cash and cash equivalents.'
C) A bank overdraft is an example of a 'cash equivalent.'
D) Cash is the pre-eminent asset as it is the medium with which claims are normally settled.
Answer: A
Diff: 2
Skill: Analytical thinking
Objective: Explain why cash and cash flows are important to the reporting entity
2) The report prepared to summarise the entity's cash transactions for the period is the:
A) statement of comprehensive income.
B) statement of changes in equity.
C) statement of cash flows.
D) statement of financial position.
Answer: C
Diff: 1
Skill: Analytical thinking
Objective: Explain the nature, purpose and layout of the statement of cash flows
5) In the statement of cash flows, the total of net cash flows from operating activities, net cash flows from investing
activities and net cash flows from financing activities for the period equals:
A) the cash balances at the beginning of the period.
B) the cash balances at the end of the period.
C) profit.
D) total net increase or decrease in cash held for the period.
Answer: D
Diff: 2
Skill: Analytical thinking
Objective: Explain the nature, purpose and layout of the statement of cash flows
8) Which item would not be included in the operating section of a statement of cash flows?
A) Cash interest received.
B) Cash received from the sale of surplus machinery.
C) Cash received from sales.
D) Cash payment of expenses.
Answer: B
Diff: 1
Skill: Analytical thinking
Objective: Explain the nature, purpose and layout of the statement of cash flows
9) Cash inflows and outflows associated with changes in non-current liabilities and equity, not arising from profit, are
included in which section of the statement of cash flows?
A) Non-current.
B) Operating.
C) Financing.
D) Investing.
Answer: C
Diff: 1
Skill: Analytical thinking
Objective: Explain the nature, purpose and layout of the statement of cash flows
10) Depreciation of plant and equipment will appear in which section of the statement of cash flows?
A) Does not appear in the statement.
B) Financing activities section.
C) Operating activities section.
D) Investing activities section.
Answer: A
Diff: 1
Skill: Analytical thinking
Objective: Explain the nature, purpose and layout of the statement of cash flows
11) The item that is not classified as a cash flow from investing activities is:
A) payment for shares to be held as an investment.
B) cash purchase of office furniture.
C) receipt from the sale of premises.
D) dividends paid to investors.
Answer: D
Diff: 2
Skill: Analytical thinking
Objective: Explain the nature, purpose and layout of the statement of cash flows
12) Cash received from the issue of shares will appear in which section of the statement of cash flows?
A) Investing activities section.
B) Does not appear in the statement.
C) Operating activities section.
D) Financing activities section.
Answer: D
Diff: 1
Skill: Analytical thinking
Objective: Explain the nature, purpose and layout of the statement of cash flows
13) How would these items be classified in a statement of cash flows prepared for a hairdressing franchise?
i) Payment of $600 for hairdressing supplies.
ii) Takings from customers for the month.
iii) Capital paid into the business by the owner.
A) i. Operating outflow.
ii. Operating inflow.
iii. Does not appear in the statement of cash flows.
B) i. Investing outflow.
ii. Operating inflow.
iii. Financing inflow.
C) i. Operating outflow.
ii. Operating inflow.
iii. Financing inflow.
D) i. Operating outflow.
ii. Operating inflow.
iii. Investing inflow.
Answer: C
Diff: 2
Skill: Application of knowledge
Objective: Explain the nature, purpose and layout of the statement of cash flows
14) Baltimore Company had a long-term debt of $1,000,000. To extinguish this debt the company issued $1,000,000 of fully
paid shares to the lender. This transaction would have the following impact on the statement of cash flows:
A) increase cash flow from financing activities by $1,000,000.
B) decrease cash by $1,000,000.
C) increase cash by $1,000,000.
D) nil impact.
Answer: D
Diff: 3
Skill: Analytical thinking
Objective: Explain the nature, purpose and layout of the statement of cash flows
15) Which transaction would not appear in the body of a statement of cash flows?
A) Acquisition of assets by means of a share issue.
B) Purchase of a building by incurring a mortgage to the seller.
C) Conversion of a liability to equity.
D) All of the above.
Answer: D
Diff: 3
Skill: Analytical thinking
Objective: Explain the nature, purpose and layout of the statement of cash flows
16) The difference between operating profit or loss after tax and net cash provided by operating activities is due to:
A) changes in non-current liabilities.
B) changes in non-current assets.
C) changes in working capital items.
D) changes in equity items.
Answer: C
Diff: 2
Skill: Analytical thinking
Objective: Explain the nature, purpose and layout of the statement of cash flows
17) In a growing business that keeps its asset base up-to-date, total cash flow from investing activities will normally be:
A) more than cash flow from operations.
B) negative.
C) positive.
D) none of the above.
Answer: B
Diff: 2
Skill: Analytical thinking
Objective: Explain the nature, purpose and layout of the statement of cash flows
19) State the effect on profit and cash of a firm paying a trade creditor.
A) Decrease in profit and decrease in cash.
B) No effect on profit and decrease in cash.
C) No effect on profit and no effect on cash.
D) Decrease in profit and no effect on cash.
Answer: B
Diff: 1
Skill: Analytical thinking
Objective: Explain the nature, purpose and layout of the statement of cash flows
20) The effect on profit and cash of depreciating a non-current asset is:
A) decrease in profit and decrease in cash.
B) no effect on profit and decrease in cash.
C) no effect on profit and no effect on cash.
D) decrease in profit and no effect on cash.
Answer: D
Diff: 1
Skill: Analytical thinking
Objective: Explain the nature, purpose and layout of the statement of cash flows
21) Which of these is a reason why a statement of cash flows could show a negative cash flow from operating activities
even though the statement of comprehensive income showed a profit?
A) An increase in the amount of inventory held.
B) A decrease in the amount owing by debtors.
C) An increase in the amount owing by creditors.
D) An increase in depreciation charged.
Answer: A
Diff: 3
Skill: Analytical thinking
Objective: Explain the nature, purpose and layout of the statement of cash flows
22) A transaction that would not appear in a statement of cash flows is:
A) the creation of an allowance for doubtful debts.
B) the upward revaluation of an asset.
C) a bonus issue of shares.
D) all of the above.
Answer: D
Diff: 2
Skill: Analytical thinking
Objective: Explain the nature, purpose and layout of the statement of cash flows
23) Which of the three main financial statements was chronologically the last to be required to be included as part of the
external financial reports?
A) Statement of comprehensive income.
B) Statement of financial position.
C) Statement of cash flows.
D) None, all three reports have always been required to be included in external financial reports.
Answer: C
Diff: 1
Skill: Analytical thinking
Objective: Explain the nature, purpose and layout of the statement of cash flows
24) Company F received $20,000 in cash in repayment of a loan made to L Lee. In the statement of cash flows of Company
F, the $20,000 would appear as:
A) an investing outflow.
B) an investing inflow.
C) a financing outflow.
D) a financing inflow.
Answer: B
Diff: 2
Skill: Analytical thinking
Objective: Explain the nature, purpose and layout of the statement of cash flows
27) If 'other expenses' in the profit and loss report is $32,000 including $8,000 of depreciation, accrued 'other expenses' at
the beginning of the year is $1,000 and $0 at the end of the year, the figure for 'other expenses' that will appear in the
statement of cash flows for the year is:
A) $25,000.
B) $23,000.
C) $32,000.
D) $33,000.
Answer: A
Diff: 2
Skill: Application of knowledge
Objective: Explain the nature, purpose and layout of the statement of cash flows
28) From the following information calculate the cash received from customers.
A) $840,000.
B) $900,000.
C) $860,000.
D) $820,000.
Answer: D
Diff: 2
Skill: Application of knowledge
Objective: Prepare a simple statement of cash flows
29) If $80,000 is owed by customers at the beginning of the year, $75,000 is owed at the end and credit sales are $120,000,
the cash received from customers is:
A) $120,000.
B) $80,000.
C) $125,000.
D) $115,000.
Answer: C
Diff: 2
Skill: Application of knowledge
Objective: Prepare a simple statement of cash flows
A) $19,000.
B) $28,000.
C) $25,000.
D) $22,000.
Answer: A
Diff: 2
Skill: Application of knowledge
Objective: Prepare a simple statement of cash flows
32) Under accrual accounting, the receipt of cash from a trade debtor will:
A) have no impact on profit and increase cash.
B) increase profit and increase cash.
C) decrease profit and decrease cash.
D) none of the above.
Answer: A
Diff: 2
Skill: Analytical thinking
Objective: Prepare a simple statement of cash flows
33) $54,000 is owed to suppliers for inventory purchases at the beginning of the year and $44,000 is owed at the end of the
year. If annual credit purchases of inventory are $160,000, the cash paid to suppliers for the year is:
A) $170,000.
B) $150,000.
C) $160,000.
D) $214,000.
Answer: A
Diff: 2
Skill: Application of knowledge
Objective: Prepare a simple statement of cash flows
34) All purchases of inventory are for cash. If inventory at the beginning of the year is $63,000 and at the end $88,000 and
the cost of sales is $200,000, the cash paid for inventory purchased for the year is:
A) $175,000.
B) $225,000.
C) $200,000.
D) none of the above.
Answer: B
Diff: 2
Skill: Application of knowledge
Objective: Prepare a simple statement of cash flows
Determine the amount of cash paid for inventory for the period.
A) $42,000.
B) $48,000.
C) $58,000.
D) $50,000.
Answer: D
Diff: 3
Skill: Application of knowledge
Objective: Prepare a simple statement of cash flows
37) The tax payment appearing in the statement of cash flows of a company reflects:
A) a prepayment for next year's tax liability.
B) last year's tax liability (due to the lag in payment to tax office).
C) this year's tax liability.
D) an estimate of this year's tax liability.
Answer: B
Diff: 2
Skill: Analytical thinking
Objective: Prepare a simple statement of cash flows
38) An extract from the trial balance of RRR Pty Ltd as at 30 June 2015 shows:
If the income tax provided for at the end 2014 was $16,000 and taxation is paid in arrears in a lump sum, what amount
will appear in the statement of cash flows for taxation paid by RRR Pty Ltd for the year ended 30 June 2015?
A) $20,000.
B) $12,000.
C) $16,000.
D) Nil.
Answer: C
Diff: 1
Skill: Analytical thinking
Objective: Prepare a simple statement of cash flows
39) Generally, the dividend payment appearing in the financing section of the statement of cash flows represents:
A) interim dividends declared in the current year.
B) proposed dividends from last year that have been paid, plus any interim dividends declared and paid in the current
year.
C) proposed dividends from last year.
D) current year's dividend.
Answer: B
Diff: 2
Skill: Analytical thinking
Objective: Prepare a simple statement of cash flows
40) Wages expense in the income statement is $56,250 with the statement of financial position at the end of the year
showing accrued wages of $2,000. If there were no accrued wages at the beginning of the period, how much was paid out
in cash for wages during the year?
A) $54,250.
B) $56,250.
C) $2,000.
D) $58,250.
Answer: A
Diff: 2
Skill: Application of knowledge
Objective: Prepare a simple statement of cash flows
41) If prepaid interest at the beginning of the period was zero and at the end of the period was $4,000 and interest expense
appears in the statement of comprehensive income for the year as $17,300, how much was paid out in cash for interest
during the year?
A) $13,300.
B) $21,300.
C) $17,300.
D) $4,000.
Answer: B
Diff: 2
Skill: Application of knowledge
Objective: Prepare a simple statement of cash flows
42) If the opening balance of rent accrued at the beginning of the year was $1,000, rent expense for the year was $20,000
and the closing balance of rent accrued at the end of the year was $1,200, the amount paid in cash for rent during the year
is:
A) $22,200.
B) $21,000.
C) $20,200.
D) $19,800.
Answer: D
Diff: 3
Skill: Application of knowledge
Objective: Prepare a simple statement of cash flows
43) University Press showed wage and salary expenses of $250,000 on its 2015 statement of comprehensive income but
reported cash paid to employees of $215,000 on its statement of cash flows. If the beginning balance of accrued wages and
salaries payable was $18,000, the ending balance is:
A) $53,000.
B) $45,000.
C) $35,000.
D) $17,000.
Answer: A
Diff: 3
Skill: Application of knowledge
Objective: Prepare a simple statement of cash flows
44) The rule for converting credit sales to cash received from debtors is:
A) income - accounts receivable at the beginning + accounts receivable at the end = cash received.
B) income + accounts receivable at the beginning - accounts receivable at the end = cash received.
C) income + or - accounts receivable at the beginning + or - accounts receivable at the end = cash received.
D) none of the above.
Answer: B
Diff: 1
Skill: Analytical thinking
Objective: Prepare a simple statement of cash flows
ESSAY. Write your answer in the space provided or on a separate sheet of paper.
45) Cameron's Screensavers Ltd
Statement of financial position as at 31 December 2015 (Extracts)
2014 2015
$ $
Shareholders' Equity
Share capital ($1 shares) 250,000 360,000
Revaluation reserve 20,000 60,000
General reserve 150,000 100,000
Retained profits 66,000 76,000
$486,000 $596,000
Additional information:
• There was a bonus issue of 1 bonus share for every 5 existing shares held.
• Land and buildings was revalued by $40,000.
• A profit of $17,000 was earned during the year.
• Dividends of $6,000 were paid during the year that had been provided for in the prior year and $7,000 was provided as
a final dividend at the end of the current year.
REQUIRED:
Show the financing section of the statement of cash flows for Cameron Screensavers for the year ended 31 December 2009.
Answer: Cameron's Screensavers Ltd
Statement of cash flows for year ended 31 December 2015 (Extract)
$ $
Cash flows from Financing Activities
Share issue 60,000
Dividends paid (6,000) $54,000
Diff: 2
Skill: Application of knowledge
Objective: Prepare a simple statement of cash flows
MULTIPLE CHOICE. Choose the one alternative that best completes the statement or answers the question.
46) The statement of cash flows must include a note reconciling:
A) profit and cash flow from operations.
B) the business bank balance with the bank statement balance.
C) accrual accounting and historical cost accounting.
D) opening equity with closing equity.
Answer: A
Diff: 2
Skill: Written and oral communication
Objective: Prepare a reconciliation of profit with cash flow from operating activities, and explain how useful this is in decision-making
47) Calculate the cash from operating activities using the following information:
Profit $142,000.
Depreciation $46,000.
Accounts receivable increased by $10,000.
Accrued expense increased by $12,000.
Inventory increased by $14,000.
A) $176,000.
B) $186,000.
C) $165,000.
D) $200,000.
Answer: A
Diff: 3
Skill: Application of knowledge
Objective: Prepare a reconciliation of profit with cash flow from operating activities, and explain how useful this is in decision-making
48) From the following information, calculate net cash flow from operating activities.
Sales $185,000
Less Salaries $40,000
Depreciation $13,000
Other expenses $10,000
Interest expense $5,000 $68,000
Profit $117,000
49) If credit sales for the year are $120,000 and the accounts receivable balance has increased by $10,500 over the year, how
much cash was received from accounts receivable during the year?
A) $130,500.
B) $109,500.
C) $120,000.
D) $10,500.
Answer: B
Diff: 1
Skill: Application of knowledge
Objective: Prepare a reconciliation of profit with cash flow from operating activities, and explain how useful this is in decision-making
50) Calculate cash from operating activities using the following information:
Profit $148,000.
Depreciation $40,000.
Inventory increased by $10,000.
A) $148,000.
B) $178,000.
C) $188,000.
D) $98,000.
Answer: B
Diff: 2
Skill: Application of knowledge
Objective: Prepare a reconciliation of profit with cash flow from operating activities, and explain how useful this is in decision-making
51) When reconciling profit with net cash flow from operating activities:
A) subtract increases in current assets and add increases in current liabilities.
B) add increases in current assets and subtract increases in current liabilities.
C) add increases in current assets and add increases in current liabilities.
D) none of the above.
Answer: A
Diff: 3
Skill: Analytical thinking
Objective: Prepare a reconciliation of profit with cash flow from operating activities, and explain how useful this is in decision-making
52) Which of these factors could cause operating profit to be more than cash flow from operations?
A) An increase in the balance of accounts receivable over the period.
B) An increase in the balance of inventory over the period.
C) An increase in the balance of accounts payable over the period.
D) Both A and B.
Answer: D
Diff: 3
Skill: Analytical thinking
Objective: Prepare a reconciliation of profit with cash flow from operating activities, and explain how useful this is in decision-making
53) Which of these correctly shows the effect of charging depreciation on equipment for the period?
A) Decrease in accumulated depreciation; decrease in the carrying value of equipment.
B) Increase in accumulated depreciation; increase in the carrying value of equipment.
C) Increase in accumulated depreciation; decrease in the carrying value of equipment.
D) None of the above.
Answer: C
Diff: 2
Skill: Analytical thinking
Objective: Prepare a reconciliation of profit with cash flow from operating activities, and explain how useful this is in decision-making
54) When preparing the note attached to the statement of cash flows reconciling operating profit with cash flow from
operations, which statement is not true?
A) An increase in current assets is deducted from profit.
B) A decrease current assets is added to profit.
C) An increase in current liabilities is deducted from profit.
D) All of the above are true.
Answer: C
Diff: 2
Skill: Analytical thinking
Objective: Prepare a reconciliation of profit with cash flow from operating activities, and explain how useful this is in decision-making
55) In the reconciliation attached to the statement of cash flows, operating cash flow is reconciled to:
A) operating profit after tax.
B) operating profit before tax.
C) operating profit before interest and tax.
D) gross profit.
Answer: A
Diff: 1
Skill: Analytical thinking
Objective: Prepare a reconciliation of profit with cash flow from operating activities, and explain how useful this is in decision-making
ESSAY. Write your answer in the space provided or on a separate sheet of paper.
56) The following information is produced on an accrual basis and relates to Emily's Superior Photo Framers.
Income $80,880
Less Photo framing supplies used 14,500
66,380
Less Other Expenses
Advertising $250
Salaries 18,250
Vehicle expenses 5,300
Office expenses 3,500
Rent of premises 20,000
Interest expenses 2,000
Depreciation of equipment 3,600 52,900
Profit $13,480
Current Liabilities
Creditor owed for vehicle expenses - 1,900
Long Term Liabilities
Loan Finance Co, repayable by 2012 18,000 15,000
18,000 16,900
Equity
Capital - Emily 34,000 34,000
Current account Emily 20,000 8,480
54,000 42,480
$72,000 $59,380
Additional Information:
• Emily withdrew $25,000 through the year for her own use.
• No photo framing equipment was sold during the year.
REQUIRED:
a) Prepare a classified statement of cash flows for the year ended 31 December 2015 from the above information. Show all
workings.
b) Prepare a statement reconciling profit with cash flow from operating activities.
c) Comment on what the statement of cash flows reveals about the cash situation of Emily's Superior Photo Framers.
Answer: Workings
a)
Cash received from customers
Accounts receivable start 1,500
Add income earned 80,880
82,380
Less Accounts receivable end 1,650
Cash received $80,730
Profit $13,480
Add back non-cash depreciation 3,600 +
Less increase in accounts receivable 150 -
Add decrease in photographic supplies 2,000 +
Add increase in accounts payable 1,900 +
Cash provided by operating activities $20,830
c)
Decrease in bank balance
Over the year, the cash position has decreased by $16,470. This has left cash reserves depleted and now only $4,030
remains in the bank.
Excessive drawings
When the equipment and the loan payments are deducted from the operating cash inflow, there is a surplus of $8,530, but
drawings are $25,000 with the balance of $16,500 being financed by the reduction in the bank balance. It is obvious that
this amount of drawings is excessive and must be reduced, as it is bleeding the business dry of cash
MULTIPLE CHOICE. Choose the one alternative that best completes the statement or answers the question.
57) Xi Co provides you with the following information about its equipment account:
If machinery that originally cost $100,000 was sold during the year, what was the value of new equipment purchased?
A) $250,000.
B) $350,000.
C) $550,000.
D) $150,000.
Answer: B
Diff: 1
Skill: Application of knowledge
Objective: Identify some of the potential complexities that arise with statements of cash flows
58) Royal Plastics provides the following information about its moulding machinery:
59) Royal Plastics provides the following information about its moulding machinery:
60) A motor vehicle was purchased for $25,000, depreciated using the reducing-balance method for 3 years at 20% p.a.
and was then sold for a price that was $1,600 more than the carrying amount of the vehicle. The cash received on the sale
of the motor vehicle was:
A) $12,800.
B) $14,400.
C) $11,200.
D) $11,600.
Answer: B
Diff: 3
Skill: Application of knowledge
Objective: Identify some of the potential complexities that arise with statements of cash flows
61) If the balance of the share capital account is $300,000 at the beginning of the year and $410,000 at the end of the year,
and there has been a 1 for 6 bonus issue of shares at the start of the year, the amount that will appear in the statement of
cash flows for proceeds from the issue of shares is:
A) $360,000.
B) $300,000.
C) $410,000.
D) $60,000.
Answer: D
Diff: 2
Skill: Application of knowledge
Objective: Identify some of the potential complexities that arise with statements of cash flows
62) If the opening balance of equity is $45,000, the closing balance is $60,000 and profit is $27,000, calculate the amount of
dividends paid (assume all dividends declared have been paid) which will appear as a financing outflow in the statement
of cash flows.
A) $15,000.
B) $42,000.
C) $12,000.
D) Nil.
Answer: C
Diff: 2
Skill: Application of knowledge
Objective: Identify some of the potential complexities that arise with statements of cash flows
63) For The Book Co share capital increased by $200,000 in total over a year in which there was a bonus issue of 20,000
new shares at $2 per share. The cash flow from the issue of shares is:
A) $160,000.
B) $200,000.
C) $180,000.
D) $240,000.
Answer: A
Diff: 2
Skill: Application of knowledge
Objective: Identify some of the potential complexities that arise with statements of cash flows
64) Motor vehicles are shown in the statement of financial position of Yong Ltd as:
2014 2015
Motor Vehicles at Cost $83,000 $95,000
Less Accumulated Depreciation $10,000 $15,000
Carrying Value $73,000 $80,000
Assuming that no vehicles were sold, the value of vehicles purchased during 2015 was:
A) $7,000.
B) $12,000.
C) $5,000.
D) $17,000.
Answer: B
Diff: 1
Skill: Application of knowledge
Objective: Identify some of the potential complexities that arise with statements of cash flows
65) In 2015, G Co repaid $45,000 to the bank on a mortgage loan. $35,000 was interest on the mortgage and $10,000 was
repayment of the principal. The repayment would appear in the statement of cash flows as:
A) operating outflow $45,000.
B) operating outflow $35,000; investing outflow $10,000.
C) financing inflow $45,000.
D) operating outflow $35,000; financing outflow $10,000.
Answer: D
Diff: 1
Skill: Analytical thinking
Objective: Identify some of the potential complexities that arise with statements of cash flows
66) In a healthy business, cash flow from operations will normally be:
A) negative.
B) less than the profit.
C) positive.
D) none of the above.
Answer: C
Diff: 2
Skill: Analytical thinking
Objective: Explain what the statement tells us, and illustrate how the statement of cash flows can be useful for identifying cash flow
management strengths, weaknesses and opportunities, both historically and in forecasting and planning
a)
Cash received from customers
Accounts receivable start 1,500
Add income earned 80,880
82,380
Less Accounts receivable end 1,650
Cash received $80,730
Profit $13,480
Add back non-cash depreciation 3,600 +
Less increase in accounts receivable 150 -
Add decrease in photographic supplies 2,000 +
Add increase in accounts payable 1,900 +
Cash provided by operating activities $20,830
c)
Decrease in bank balance
Over the year, the cash position has decreased by $16,470. This has left cash reserves depleted and now only $4,030
remains in the bank.
Excessive drawings
When the equipment and the loan payments are deducted from the operating cash inflow, there is a surplus of $8,530, but
drawings are $25,000 with the balance of $16,500 being financed by the reduction in the bank balance. It is obvious that
this amount of drawings is excessive and must be reduced, as it is bleeding the business dry of cash
This was only prologue to the Ars Magna, the “Great Art” of
Ramón Lull. In 1274, the devout pilgrim climbed Mount Palma in
search of divine help in his writings. The result was the first recorded
attempt to use diagrams to discover and to prove non-mathematical
truths. Specifically, Lull determined that he could construct
mechanical devices that would perform logic to prove the validity of
God’s word. Where force, in the shape of the Crusades, had failed,
Lull was convinced that logical argument would win over the infidels,
and he devoted his life to the task.
Renouncing his estate, including his wife and children, Lull
devoted himself thenceforth solely to his Great Art. As a result of
dreams he had on Mount Palma, the basis for this work was the
assumption of simple premises or principles that are unquestionable.
Lull arranged these premises on rotating concentric circles. The first
of these wheels of logic was called A, standing for God. Arranged
about the circumference of the wheel were sixteen other letters
symbolizing attributes of God. The outer wheel also contained these
letters. Rotating them produced 240 two-term combinations telling
many things about God and His good. Other wheels prepared
sermons, advised physicians and scientists, and even tackled such
stumpers as “Where does the flame go when the candle is put out?”
From the Enciclopedia universal
illustrada,
Barcelona, 1923
Lull’s wheel.
Unfortunately for Lull, even divine help did not guarantee him
success. He was stoned to death by infidels in Bugia, Africa, at the
age of eighty-three. All his wheelspinning logic was to no avail in
advancing the cause of Christianity there, and most mathematicians
since have scoffed at his naïve devices as having no real merit. Far
from accepting the Ars Magna, most scholars have been “Lulled into
a secure sense of falsity,” finding it as specious as indiscriminate
syllogism.
Yet Lull did leave his mark, and many copies of his wheels have
been made and found useful. Where various permutations of
numbers or other symbols are required, such a mechanical tool is
often the fastest way of pairing them up. Even in the field of writing, a
Lullian device was popular a few decades ago in the form of the “Plot
Genii.” With this gadget the would-be author merely spun the wheels
to match up various characters with interesting situations to arrive at
story ideas. Other versions use cards to do the same job, and one
called Plotto was used by its inventor William Wallace Cook to plot
countless stories. Although these were perhaps not ideas for great
literature, eager writers paid as much as $75 for the plot boiler.
Not all serious thinkers relegated Lull to the position of fanatic
dreamer and gadgeteer. No less a mind that Gottfried Wilhelm von
Leibnitz found much to laud in Lull’s works. The Ars Magna might
well lead to a universal “algebra” of all knowledge, thought Leibnitz.
“If controversies were to arise,” he then mused, “there would be no
more reason for philosophers to dispute than there would for
accountants!”
Leibnitz applied Lull’s work to formal logic, constructed tables of
syllogisms from which he eliminated the false, and carried the work
of the “gifted crank” at bit nearer to true symbolic logic. Leibnitz also
extended the circle idea to that of overlapping them in early attempts
at logical manipulation that foreshadowed the work that John Venn
would do later. Leibnitz also saw in numbers a powerful argument for
the existence of God. God, he saw as the numeral 1, and 0 was the
nothingness from which He created the world. There are those,
including Voltaire whose Candide satirized the notion, who question
that it is the best of all possible worlds, but none can question that in
the seventeenth century Leibnitz foresaw the coming power of the
binary system. He also built arithmetical computers that could add
and subtract, multiply and divide.
A few years earlier than Leibnitz, Blaise Pascal was also
interested in computing machines. As a teen-ager working in his
father’s tax office, Pascal wearied of adding the tedious figures so he
built himself a gear-driven computer that would add eight columns of
numbers. A tall figure in the scientific world, Pascal had fathered
projective geometry at age sixteen and later established
hydrodynamics as a science. To assist a gambler friend, he also
developed the theory of probability which led to statistical science.
Another mathematical innovation of the century was that of placing
logarithms on a stick by the Scot, John Napier. What he had done, of
course, was to make an analog, or scale model of the arithmetical
numbers. “Napier’s bones” quickly became what we now call slide
rules, forerunners of a whole class of analog computers that solve
problems by being actual models of size or quantity. Newton joined
Leibnitz in contributing another valuable tool that would be used in
the computer, that of the calculus.
The Computer in Literature
Even as Plato had viewed with suspicion the infringement of
mechanical devices on man’s domain of higher thought, other men
have continued to eye the growth of “mechanisms” with mounting
alarm. The scientist and inventor battled not merely technical
difficulties, but the scornful satire and righteous condemnation of
some of their fellow men. Jonathan Swift, the Irish satirist who took a
swipe at many things that did not set well with his views, lambasted
the computing machine as a substitute for the brain. In Chapter V,
Book Three, of Gulliver’s Travels, the good dean runs up against a
scheming scientist in Laputa:
The first Professor I saw was in a very large Room, with Forty
Pupils about him. After Salutation, observing me to look earnestly
upon a Frame, which took up the greatest part of both the Length
and Breadth of the Room; he said, perhaps I might wonder to see
him employed in a Project for improving speculative knowledge by
practical and mechanical Operations. But the World would soon be
sensible of its Usefulness; and he flattered himself, that a more
noble exalted Thought never sprang in any other Man’s Head. Every
one knew how laborious the usual Method is of attaining to Arts and
Sciences; whereas by his Contrivance, the most ignorant Person at
a reasonable Charge, and with a little bodily Labour, may write
Books in Philosophy, Poetry, Politicks, Law, Mathematicks, and
Theology, without the least Assistance from Genius or Study. He
then led me to the Frame, about the Sides whereof all his Pupils
stood in Ranks. It was a Twenty Foot Square, placed in the Middle of
the Room. The Superfices was composed of several Bits of Wood,
about the Bigness of a Dye, but some larger than others. They were
all linked together by slender Wires. These Bits of Wood were
covered on every Square with Papers pasted on them; and on these
Papers were written all the Words of their Language in their several
Moods, Tenses, and Declensions, but without any Order. The
Professor then desired me to observe, for he was going to set his
Engine to work. The Pupils at his Command took each the hold of an
Iron Handle, whereof there were Forty fixed round the Edges of the
Frame; and giving them a sudden Turn, the whole Disposition of the
Words was entirely changed. He then commanded Six and Thirty of
the Lads to read the several Lines softly as they appeared upon the
Frame; and where they found three or four Words together that
might make Part of a Sentence, they dictated to the four remaining
Boys who were Scribes. This work was repeated three or four Times,
and at every Turn the Engine was so contrived, that the Words
shifted into new Places, as the square Bits of Wood moved upside
down.
Six hours a-day the young Students were employed in this Labour;
and the Professor showed me several Volumes in large Folio already
collected, of broken Sentences, which he intended to piece together,
and out of those rich Materials to give the World a compleat Body of
Art and Sciences; which however might be still improved, and much
expedited, if the Publick would raise a Fund for making and
employing five Hundred such Frames in Lagado....
Fortunately for Swift, who would have been horrified by it, he
never heard Russell Maloney’s classic story, “Inflexible Logic,” about
six monkeys pounding away at typewriters and re-creating the world
great literature. Gulliver’s Travels is not listed in their
accomplishments.
The French Revolution prompted no less an orator than Edmund
Burke to deliver in 1790 an address titled “Reflections on the French
Revolution,” in which he extols the virtues of the dying feudal order in
Europe. It galled Burke that “The Age of Chivalry is gone. That of
sophists, economists, and calculators has succeeded, and the glory
of Europe is extinguished forever.”
Seventy years later another eminent Englishman named Darwin
published a book called On the Origin of Species that in the eyes of
many readers did little to glorify man himself. Samuel Butler, better
known for his novel, The Way of All Flesh, wrote too of the
mechanical being, and was one of the first to point out just what sort
of future Darwin was suggesting. In the satirical Erewhon, he
described the machines of this mysterious land in some of the most
prophetic writing that has been done on the subject. It was almost a
hundred years ago that Butler wrote the first version, called “Darwin
Among the Machines,” but the words ring like those of a 1962 worrier
over the electronic brain. Butler’s character warns:
There is no security against the ultimate development of mechanical
consciousness in the fact of machines possessing little consciousness now.
Reflect upon the extraordinary advance which machines have made during the last
few hundred years, and note how slowly the animal and vegetable kingdoms are
advancing. The more highly organized machines are creatures not so much of
yesterday, as of the last five minutes, so to speak, in comparison with past time.
Do not let me be misunderstood as living in fear of any actually existing
machine; there is probably no known machine which is more than a prototype of
future mechanical life. The present machines are to the future as the early
Saurians to man ... what I fear is the extraordinary rapidity with which they are
becoming something very different to what they are at present.
Butler envisioned the day when the present rude cries with which
machines call out to one another will have been developed to a
speech as intricate as our own. After all, “... take man’s vaunted
power of calculation. Have we not engines which can do all manner
of sums more quickly and correctly than we can? What prizeman in
Hypothetics at any of our Colleges of Unreason can compare with
some of these machines in their own line?”
Noting another difference in man and his creation, Butler says,
... Our sum-engines never drop a figure, nor our looms a stitch; the machine is
brisk and active, when the man is weary, it is clear-headed and collected, when the
man is stupid and dull, it needs no slumber.... May not man himself become a sort
of parasite upon the machines? An affectionate machine-tickling aphid?
It can be answered that even though machines should hear never so well and
speak never so wisely, they will still always do the one or the other for our
advantage, not their own; that man will be the ruling spirit and the machine the
servant.... This is all very well. But the servant glides by imperceptible approaches
into the master, and we have come to such a pass that, even now, man must
suffer terribly on ceasing to benefit the machines. If all machines were to be
annihilated ... man should be left as it were naked upon a desert island, we should
become extinct in six weeks.
Is it not plain that the machines are gaining ground upon us, when we reflect on
the increasing number of those who are bound down to them as slaves, and of
those who devote their whole souls to the advancement of the mechanical
kingdom?