Editing Mental calculation (section)

===Literary===
*[[Frank Herbert]]'s novel ''[[Dune (novel)|Dune]]'', specially trained mental calculators known as [[Mentat]]s have replaced mechanical computers completely. Several important supporting characters in the novel, namely [[Piter De Vries]] and [[Thufir Hawat]], are Mentats. [[Paul Atreides]] was originally trained as one without his knowledge. However, these Mentats do not specialize in mathematical calculations, but in total recall of many different kinds of data. For example, Thufir Hawat is able to recite various details of a mining operation, including the number of various pieces of equipment, the people to work them, the profits and costs involved, etc. In the novel he is never depicted as doing actual academic mathematical calculations. Mentats were valued for their capacity as humans to store data, because "thinking machines" are outlawed.
*[[Roald Dahl]]'s novel ''[[Matilda (novel)|Matilda]]'', the lead character is portrayed having exceptional computational skills as she computes her father's profit without the need for paper computations. During class (she is a first-year elementary school student), she does large-number multiplication problems in her head almost instantly.
*Andrew Jackson "Slipstick" Libby is a calculating prodigy in [[Robert A. Heinlein]]'s [[Sci-Fi]] story ''[[Methuselah's Children]]''.
*[[Haruki Murakami]]'s novel ''[[Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World]]'', a class of mental calculators known as ''Calcutecs'' perform [[cryptography]] in a sealed-off portion of their brains, the results of which they are unable to access from their normal waking consciousness.