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Introduction
In researching the history of recreational mathematics, one finds that the
Propositiones ad acuendos juvenes of Alcuin of York is frequently cited
as the earliest problem collection in Latin. The text contains 56
problems, including 7 major types of problem which appear for the first
time, and 2 major types which appear for me first time in the West. By
any standard such a collection is of major historical interest, so it is
surprising that a critical edition was not prepared until Folkerts' edition
of 1978, and yet more surprising that no English translation has ever
been produced.
In 1984 I obtained copies of the text and then met John Hadley, a
Catholic priest, at an Open University summer school. Hadley kindly
translated the text and provided some comments. I have had several
requests for this material recently, so I have edited this version, which is
considerably extended by notes on Alcuin and the sources and history of
the various problems, partly derived from Folkerts and partly from my
own research in the field. Folkerts informs us that Helmuth Gricke has
just made a translation into German, but we have not yet seen it. We
wish to thank Prof. O.A.W. Dilke for comments and corrections.
Alcuin
Alcuin (Ealhwine or Alchvine, Latinised as Albinus and later surnamed
Flaccus) was one of me most notable intellectuals of the period 500-
1000. He was born in or near York c.732. He was a student, then
teacher, and then head of the cathedral school at York, at that time the
most distinguished school in England, perhaps in Europe. St. Peter's
School, Clifton, York, claims a continuous history from this time.
In 781 Charlemagne asked Alcuin to direct the palace school at his
capital Aachen where Alcuin stayed until 796, acting as educational
advisor to Charlemagne. He was responsible for the major reform of
education in Charlemagne's empire which revived learning in Europe.
He wrote many textbooks which encouraged dialogue in teaching, and
wrote on the calendar. He was involved in the religious and political
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PROBLEMS TO SHARPEN THE YOUNG 103
events of the time, but details are sparse. In 796 he retired to become
Abbot of the monastery of St. Martin at Tours. He revived the school
mere, making it the best in France. He died at Tours on 19th May 804.
The sources
Propositiones Alcuini doctoris Caroli Magni Imperatoris ad acuendos
juvenes.
1. Contained in Beati Flacci Albini seu Alcuini, Abbatis et Caroli
Magni Imperatoris Magistri. Opera Omnia: Operum pars octava:
Opera dubia.
Ed. D. Frobenius [Forster], Ratisbon, 1777, Tomus secundus, volumen
secundum, pp. 440-448. Revised and republished by J.-P. Migne as :
Patrologiae Cursus Completus: Patrologiae Latinae, Tomus 101. Paris,
1863, columns 1143-1160. We call this the Alcuin text. In a letter to
Charlemagne (epistle 101) in 800, Alcuin mentions sending to the
emperor among other matters, "certain subtle figures of arithmetic, for
pleasure." Although there is nothing definite to connect this letter with
the Propositiones, Migne and others have put them among the doubtful
works of Alcuin. Migne adds: / admit that these propositions have
little usefulness, and can easily be solved by modern arithmetic, but
perhaps there were those who, attentive to certain relics of antiquity,
would find a value in them.
2. Contained in Venerabilis Bedae, Anglo-Saxonis Presbyteri. Opera
omnia: Pars prima, Sectio II - dubia et spuria: De Arithmeticis
propositionibus, tomus 1, Joannes Herwagen, Basel 1563. Columns
135-146. Revised and republished by J.-P. Migne as: Patrologiae
Cursus Completus: Patrologiae Latinae, Tomus 90, Paris, 1904,
columns 665-676. Aliae propositiones ad acuendos juvenes is col. 667-
676. We call this the Bede text. Many of the MSS have the
Propositiones following De arithmeticis propositionibus which were
usually attributed to Bede, hence the attribution of the Propositiones also.
However, in common with other works in the 1563 volume the
attribution to Bede is generally considered spurious because bede makes
no mention of them in his own catalogue of his works, and De
arithmeticis propositionibus is now ascribed to a pseudo-Bede.
The Alcuin has 53 numbered problems with answers. The Bede has 3
extra problems, but the problems are not numbered, there are only 34 XA
answers, and there are several transcription errors. Frobenius used the
Bede to rectify the Alcuin.
3. Menso Folkerts. Die alteste mathematisce Aufgabensammlung in
lateinischer Sprache. Die Alkuin zugeschriebenen Propositiones ad
Acuendos Iuvenes. Oster. Akad. der Wissensch. Madi.-Naturw. Kl.,
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104 THE MATHEMATICAL GAZETTE
Denkschr. 116:6 (1978) 15-80. Also published separately by Springer,
Vienna, (1978).
Folkerts has found 12 manuscripts of the Propositiones, the earliest
being from the late 9th century. The oldest MS is incomplete, and the
next oldest has some missing pages, but both contain the extra problems
of the Bede text. The next oldest MS is from the late 10th century, and
is essentially the Alcuin text. Folkerts believes that the MSS fall into
two groups, roughly corresponding to the Alcuin and Bede texts, with the
Bede representing a poor later edition of the Alcuin. He produces a
reasonably definitive edition of the original, but it does not vary greatly
from the Alcuin and Bede texts 1. and 2. above. He uses the same
numbers for the problems as the Alcuin text, and numbers the extra Bede
problems as 1 la, 1 lb and 33a.
We give the problem titles in Latin and English, using Folkerts's Latin.
These titles almost all begin with Propositio which we omit to make the
titles briefer. In the actual problems Alcuin and Folkerts use Roman
numerals for numbers, but the Bede uses Hindu/Arabic numerals. For
everyone's convenience we use Hindu/Arabic numbers, but where
numbers are given in words we give them in words also, to retain a
characteristic of the original. The last sentence of each problem usually
starts with a formula like Dicat, qui potest (Speak, who can) which has
been dropped from the translation. The Alcuin text has solutions
directly after the problems, while the Bede gives its solutions in a block
after the problems. The solutions are generally very sketchy, usually
simply verifying that the answer works with no indication of its
derivation.
Units
The most common units of money at the time were the libra, solidus
and denarius. As these were the antecedents of the English pound,
shilling and penny we will use the English names. 12 pence = 1 shilling,
20 shillings = 1 pound. See problem 1 for leuca and pace. See
problem 22 for perches and acres. The units of weight were the libra and
uncia the forebears of the pound and ounce, except that there were 12
uncia to the libra. We shall emphasise this by referring to troy ounces
at the first mention of ounce in a problem. Units of volume vary. See
problems 8, 50 and 51 for metreta, metrum, modius or modium, sextarius
and merus. Modius and metrum are often translated as measure when
the size is not important.
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PROBLEMS TO SHARPEN THE YOUNG 105
1. De limace, A slug
A leech invited a slug for lunch a leuca1 away. But he could only walk
an inch a day. How many days will he have to walk for his meal ?
Solution. A leuca is 1500 paces2, that is 7500 feet or 90 000 inches. It
will take him as many days as inches, which makes 246 years and 210
days.
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106 THE MATHEMATICAL GAZETTE
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PROBLEMS TO SHARPEN THE YOUNG 107
fatten them up and sell them again at a profit. But when they found that
it was not the right time of year for fattening pigs and they were not able
to feed them through the winter, they tried to sell them again to make a
profit. But they could not, because they could only sell them for the
price they had paid for them - two shillings for each 5 pigs. When they
saw this they said to each other: "Let's divide them". By dividing them,
and selling them at the rate for which they had bought them, they made a
profit. How many pigs were there, and how could they be divided to
make a profit, which could not be made by selling them all at once ?
Solution. Firstly there were 250 pigs bought with 100 shillings at the
above mentioned rate, for five 50s are 250. On division each merchant
had 125. One sold the poorer quality pigs at three for a shilling; the
other sold the better quality pigs at two for a shilling. The one who sold
the poorer pigs received 40 shillings for 120 pigs; the one who sold the
better quality pigs received 60 shillings for 120 pigs. There then
remained 5 of each sort of pig, from which which they could make a
profit of 4 shillings and 2 pence.
The final profit is obtained by selling the remaining pigs at the same prices,
yielding 1 shilling and 8 pence plus 2 shillings and 6 pence. This is the first
appearance of this problem, variously known as "The "applesellers' problem",
"The missing penny", or "The marketwomen's problem". The basis of the
problem is that one is erroneously averaging equal numbers at 2 for a shilling and
3 for a shilling to get an average price of 5 for two shillings. After Alcuin this
problem occurs in almost every European problem book, but I have never seen a
non-European version.
9. De sago - A cloak.
I have a cloak, 100 cubits1 long and 80 cubits wide. I wish to make
small cloaks with it, each small cloak 5 cubits long and 4 wide. How
many small cloaks can I make ?
Solution. John Hadley says: "400. The explanation given for this
answer was not enlightening." He conjectures that a line has been
omitted by a scribe. Folkerts (p.30) discusses versions in the MSS. The
Bede text can be translated as follows. "The eightieth part of 400 is 5 and
the hundredth part of 400 is 4. Both eighty 5s and one hundred 4s give
the same result, 400. There are that many cloaks."
1. A cubit is about half a yard.
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PROBLEMS TO SHARPEN THE YOUNG 109
lib. De patre ef filio et vidua eiusque filia - A father and son and a
widow and her daughter.
If a relict or widow and her daughter take a father and son in marriage,
so that the son marries the mother and the father the daughter, what is the
relationship of their sons ?
Solution. Again Folkerts gives no solution, but the same MS mentioned
in 11a gives: "Hence my son and the son of my father are uncle and
nephew of one another."
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110 THE MATHEMATICAL GAZETTE
collected up to then. The servant went to the first manor alone; to the
second he went with one other; to the next he took three with him. How
many were collected from the 30 manors ?
Solution. After the first stop there were 2 men; after the second 4; after
the third 8, after the fourth 16; after the fifth 32; after the sixth 64; after
the seventh 128; after the eighth 256; after the ninth 512; after the tenth
1024; after the eleventh 2048; after the twelfth 4096; after the thirteenth
8192; after the fourteenth 16384; after the fifteenth 32768; after the
sixteenth 65536; after the seventeenth 131072; after the eighteenth
262144; after the nineteenth 524288; after the twentieth 1048576; after
the twenty-first 2097152; after the twenty-second 4194304; after the
twenty-third 8388608; after the twenty-fourth 16777216; after the
twenty-fifth 33554432; after the twenty-sixth 67108864; after the twenty-
seventh 134217728; after the twenty-eighth 268435456; after the twenty-
ninth 536870912; after the thirtieth 1073741824.
Migne stops at thefifteenthvalue since the values were incorrectly given in all
the MSS that he saw. Folkerts gives all the values.
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PROBLEMS TO SHARPEN THE YOUNG HI
This is usually called "The ass and mule problem" since the earliest known
version, in Greek verse attributed to Euclid, has an ass and a mule carrying sacks.
Diophantus gives a general solution of such problems and several examples.
Two versions occur in the Greek Anthology and it also appears in Mahavira
(c.850) and al-Karkhi (c.1010). However Alcuin's version is exceptional in that
the second statement is considered as happening after the first is already
executed. The usual form has the second person saying: "But if you give me..."
and with our numbers the solution would be 10, 14, since 10 + 2 = 14 - 2 and 14
+ 2 = 2(10 - 2). The only other example of Alcuin's form seems to be in the
Algorismus Ratisbonensis (c.1450). An unresolved question: let (a, b, c, d)
denote the general problem: "If I had a from you I'd have b times as many as
you"; "But if / had cfromyou, I'd have d times as much as you." I cannot find
a simple criterion for when the solutions are integers and I have not seen any
study of the general problem at all.
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112 THE MATHEMATICAL GAZETTE
18. De lupo et capra etfasciculo cauli - A wolf, a goat and a bunch of
cabbages.
A man had to take a wolf, a goat and a bunch of cabbages across a river.
The only boat he could find could only take two of them at a time. But
he had been ordered to transfer all of these to the other side in good
condition. How could this be done.
Solution. I would take the goat and leave the wolf and the cabbage.
Then I would return and take the wolf across. Having put the wolf on the
other side I would take the goat back over. Having left that behind, I
would take the cabbage across. I would then row across again, and
having picked up the goat take it over once more. By this procedure
there would be some healthy rowing, but no lacerating catastrophe.
There is an alternative solution which is that given viewed backwards, the
objects transported have been varied in many ways, including a fox, duck and
grain and the African leopard, goat and cassava leaves. One can extend the
problem to more objects: A, B, C, D,... where each object is incompatible with its
two neighbours, but then one of the objects has to be able to row.
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PROBLEMS TO SHARPEN THE YOUNG 113
over. Then that son, who had previously crossed with his brother, again
gets in and returns the boat to his brother. Both being in the boat, they
come over, and complete the crossing without shipwreck.
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114 THE MATHEMATICAL GAZETTE
23. De campo quadrangulo - A four-sided field.
A four-sided field measures 30 perches down one side and 32 down the
other; it is 34 perches across the top and 32 across the bottom. How
many acres are included in the field ?
Solution. The sum of the lengths of the sides is 62 perches, half of
which is 31; and the sum of the widths is 66, half of which is 33. 31
times this is 1023. Divide this into 12 parts, as above, and there are 85;
and again divide 85 by 12, and this gives 7. Therefore there are 7 acres
here.
Here the Roman and Egyptian formula for the area of a quadrilateral with sides
a, b, c, and d is used: (a + c)/2 x (b + d)/2. However it is possible for such a
field to enclose no area at all. The maximum area is obtained when the
quadrilateral is cyclic, when the Archimedes-Heron-Brahmagupta formula can be
used: A2 = (s-a)(s-b)(s-c)(s-d) where s is the semi-perimeter. In our case we
get A = 1021.9980... so the Roman method gives a good estimate of the
maximum area of the field.
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PROBLEMS TO SHARPEN THE YOUNG 115
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116 THE MATHEMATICAL GAZETTE
Solution. Adding the two sides makes 200, and the half of 200 is 100.
The front measures 90 feet and the half of 90 is 45. Because each house
is to be 20 feet long and 10 feet wide, take one twentieth of 100 which is
5, and take one tenth of 40 [!] which is 4. Then 5 times 4 is 20. That is
the number of houses the town should contain.
According to the Roman formula the area would be 4500 which is Ti>h house
areas. The actual area is 4018.62 which is 20.09 house areas. The conversion of
45 to 40 may be an attempt to compensate for the inaccuracy of the formula, or to
allow for the difficulty offittingrectangular houses into the triangular town. I
can only get 15 houses in, and John Hadley can get 18 in if the walls can be bent
slightly.
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PROBLEMS TO SHARPEN THE YOUNG 117
and 120 to cover the width of 120 feet. Multiply 120 by 126 and it
makes 15120. That is the number of paving stones required to pave the
basilica.
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118 THE MATHEMATICAL GAZETTE
given 90 measures of grain. He directed that each man should receive
three measures, each woman two measures, and each child half a
measure. How many men, women, and children were there ?
Solution. Take six threes making 18, and twenty twos, making 40; and
sixty-four halves, making 32. That is, six men receive 18 measures, and
20 women receive 40 measures, and 64 children receive 32 measures.
Adding 6 and 20 and 64 gives 90 in the household, and adding 18 and 40
and 32 makes 90 measures. So we have both 90 people and 90
measures.
The Bede text has 33a before 33, yet it seems odd that the solution got by
tripling that in 33. was not also given for 33a. In fact there are 7 solutions, 2 of
them with 0s: 3n, 30 - 5n, 60 + In, for n = 0, 1,..., 6.
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PROBLEMS TO SHARPEN THE YOUNG 119
what remains, which makes seven parts, seven parts of 40, which is 14
pounds or 280 shillings. This is what the daughter receives. Adding 360
and 320 and 280 gives 960 shillings, or 48 pounds.
The reference to ounces arises because the original ratios are expressed as so
many ounces (per pound).
D.E. Smith (History of Mathematics , vol. II pp. 544-546) discusses the history
of this "Testament problem". He says it grew out of the Roman Lex Falcidia of
40 B.C. which required that at least 'A of an estate should go to the legal heir.
He says that thefirstappearance of the problem is in Juventius Celcus, c.75; and
he gives 22 medieval references. Usually both the ratios son : mother and
mother : daughter are 2 : 1 and the usual solution divides the estate in the
proportion 4 : 2 : 1. Applying this usual method to our problem would give the
proportion 21 : 7 : 5 instead of the 9 : 8 : 7 obtained. Alcuin's method first
divides the estate in half, and then splits each half. This would give the
proportion 2 : 3 : 1 in the usual problem. There is considerable room for debate
and several authors give up and declare that the will must be void. By the
sixteenth century versions with triplets appear, and there is even a version with
one boy, one girl, and a hermaphrodite! Folkerts argues that Alcuin's
"astonishing" solution shows that the author did not understand Roman law -
perhaps the author had never seen the earlier works.
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120 THE MATHEMATICAL GAZETTE
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PROBLEMS TO SHARPEN THE YOUNG 121
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122 THE MATHEMATICAL GAZETTE
Solution. This is a fable. No-one can solve how to kill 300 or 30 pigs
in three days, an odd number each day. This fable is given to children.
I have recently begun collecting examples of this kind of problem, but all my
other examples are 20th century. In the early 20th century I have examples
which would solve the above as "1,1, 298, since 298 is a very odd number of pigs
to kill in one day". However this depends on a pun which may exist only in
English. (The German word ungerade can just about bear bom meanings). A
different form of the problem involves putting an odd number (e.g. 3) pigs into an
even number (e.g. 2) of pens, with an odd number in each pen. This is solved by
having concentric pens (e.g. with 1 pig in the inner of the two pens, and two pigs
inside the outer pen but outside the inner pen).
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PROBLEMS TO SHARPEN THE YOUNG 123
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124 THE MATHEMATICAL GAZETTE
1. Folkerts only gives the title Alia propositio - another problem.
2. From problem 8 we know a sextarius is about a pint.
3. The Latin is metra. The solution tells us a measure is 48 sextarii or 288 meri
so is about 6 gallons.
4. The solution tells us that a meros is a sixth of a sextarius, so is about a teacup.
5. The Alcuin text gives 289 and 28900.
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PROBLEMS TO SHARPEN THE YOUNG 125
References.
Abu Kamil Shuja' ibn Aslam, Kitab al-tara' ifftl-hisab(Book of rare things in the art of
calculation.) Trans, by H. Suter, Das Buch der Seltenheiten der Rechenkunst von Abu
Kamil el Misri. Bibl. Math. (3) 11 (1910-1911) pplOO-120.
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126 THE MATHEMATICAL GAZETTE
Frater Friedrich Gerhardt (attrib.), Latin and German MSS, cl450, known as Algorismus
Ratisbonensis. Transcribed and edited from 6 MSS by Kurt Vogel, as: Die practica des
Algorismus Ratisbonensis. C.H. Beck'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Munich 1954.
Abou Beqr Mohammed Ben Alhacen Alkarkhi. Untitled MS called Alfakhri. MS 952,
Supp. Arabe de la Bibliotheque Imperiale, Paris. Edited into French by Franz Woepcke as:
Extrait du Fakhri. L'Imprimerie Imperiale, Paris 1853; reprinted by Georg Olms Verlag,
Hildesheim, 1982.
Metrodorus. In: The Greek Anthology, W.R. Paton, trans., Loeb Classical Library, 1916-
1918. Vol 5, Book 14.
Johannes Tropfke, revised by Kurt Vogel, Karin Reich and Helmuth Gericke. Geschichte
der Elementarmathematik. 4th ed. Vol 1: Arithmetik und Algebra. De Gruyter.Berlin,
1980.
JOHN HADLEY
DAVID SINGMASTER
And I am strangely surprised at the supine and stupid indolency of many young persons,
who have time enough on their hands, money enough in their pockets, and intellects enough
in their heads , yet notwithstanding this, will expend neither in the study of this, or any
other noble art, or part of mathematical learning; which would in so agreeable manner
ennoble their nature; enrich their minds; and elevate them above, and rescue their
reputations from the rude and barbarous vulgar. Instead of which they idly chuse to bury
their talents, and wretchedly live, and ignominiously die without remembrance. The young
Trigonometer's compleat guide, being the Mystery and rationale of Plain Trigonometry
made clear and easy. Benjamin Martin 1736.
Twenty years ago the study of rational arithmetic was opposed and derided as part of liberal
education; and the government is now preparing to extend it even to the schools in which
pauper children are taught. Athenaum 1848.
Mathematics are pursued with a zest almost approaching passion by many artizans of our
manufacturing towns. The booksellers will tell you of a constant demand for even
antiquated treatises. The weaver still works with fluxions, in ignorance of the more
convenient calculus; and we may fear that many a brain while mechanically watching the
whirling lathe... is wasting its strength in seeking to square the circle. Fraser's Magazine.
July 1854.
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