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Convergence articles

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A Game of Cat and Mouse

A mouse is at the top of a poplar tree 60 braccia high, and a cat is on the ground at its foot. The mouse descends 1/2 a braccia a day and at night it turns back 1/6 of a braccia.

'He Advanced Him 200 Lambs of Gold': The Pamiers Manuscript

Problems from a 15th-century French manuscript, including one with negative solutions.

Woodcutter

A woodcutter starts to fell a tree 4 feet in diameter, and cuts half way through. One face of the cut is horizontal, and the other face is inclined to the horizontal at an angle of 45 degrees. Find the volume of the wood cut out.

Niccolo Tartaglia's General Trattato di Numeri et Misure
Here is the title page of part I of the General Trattato di Numeri (General Treatise on Number and Measure) (1556) of Niccolo Tartaglia (1500-1557). This is an extensive work on elementary mathematics that was popular in Italy for several decades after its publication.
Apes in a Forest

In a forest, a number of apes equal in number to the square of 1/8 of the total number of apes are noisy. The remaining 12 apes are on a nearby hill irritated. What is the total number of apes in the pack?

A Linear Hypocycloid

Prove geometrically that the hypocycloid is a straight line when the radius of the rolling circle is one-half the radius of the fixed circle.

Wooden Be Board

Given a wooden log of diameter 2 ch'ih 5 ts'un from which a 7 ts'un thick board is to be cut, what is the maximum possible width of the board?

God Created the Integers: Mathematical Breakthroughs that Changed History

Original source material from seventeen mathematicians, with commentary by Stephen Hawking.

Karen Dee Michalowicz
We sadly announce the untimely death of one of Convergence's editorial board members.
Inheritance of Three Sons

A man died leaving 3 sons, to whom he bequeathed his estate in the following manner: to the eldest he gave 184 dollars; to the second 155 dollars and to the third 96 dollars;

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