ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Jahnke and Emde

Jahnke and Emde are two people who created an important way of computing or solving math problems. Think of it like building with blocks, but instead of using regular blocks, they used special blocks that can do math. Jahnke and Emde's method is like building a big tower out of these special blocks.

Now, imagine you have a problem like figuring out what is 2+2. With Jahnke and Emde's method, you would use the special blocks to build up the answer (4) by adding two blocks together, and then adding two more blocks to that group. This tower of blocks represents the answer to the math problem.

This method is really useful because it can solve way more complicated math problems than just adding or subtracting numbers. For example, it can be used to help computers do things like search for information or find the shortest route between two places.

So, in summary, Jahnke and Emde created a way of solving math problems using special blocks that can do math, which can be used to solve all kinds of complicated math problems.