Problems from Another Time

Individual problems from throughout mathematics history, as well as articles that include problem sets for students.

I am a brazen lion; my spouts are my 2 eyes, my mouth, and the flat of my foot. My right eye fills a jar in 2 days, my left eye in 3, and my foot in 4.

Logarithms: The Early History of a Familiar Function - John Napier Introduces Logarithms

The authors recount the 'great tale' of Napier's and Burgi's parallel development of logarithms and urge you to use it in class.

Indian Numbers Game

Find a number having remainder 29 when divided by 30 and remainder 3 when divided by 4.

The Chinese General and the River

An old Chinese general led his army to a river with a steep bank. Standing atop the bank, he held a stick 6 feet long perpendicular to himself.

Stone Weight

I found a stone but did not weigh it; after I added to it 1/7 of its weight and then 1/11 of this new weight, I weighed the total at 1 mana. What was the weight of the stone?

Peano on Wronskians: A Translation - Appendix 2: Translations

How a translation of Peano's counterexample to the 'theorem' that a zero Wronskian implies linear dependence can help your differential equations students

Making Arrows

In one day, a person can make 30 arrows or fletch [put the feathers on] 20 arrows.

Four Companies

There are four companies, in one of which there are 6 men, in another 8, and in each of the remaining two, 9 men. How many ways can a committee of 4 men be composed by choosing one man from each company?

IOU

I owe a man the following notes: one of $800 due May 16; one of $660 due on July 1; one of $940 due September 29. He wishes to exchange them for two notes of $1200 each and wants one to fall due June 1. When should the other be due?

'He Advanced Him 200 Lambs of Gold': The Pamiers Manuscript - Appendix B: Solutions

Discussion of 15th century French manuscript, with translation of its problems, including one with negative solutions