# Problems from Another Time

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

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 mina. What was the weight of the stone?
Determine the greatest cylinder that can be inscribed in a given cone.
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;
A square walled city measures 10 li on each side. At the center of each side is a gate. Two persons start walking from the center of the city.
I owe a man the following notes: one of $800 due May 16; one of$660 due on July 1; one of $940 due Sept. 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?
The authors recount the 'great tale' of Napier's and Burgi's parallel development of logarithms and urge you to use it in class.
A certain man had in his trade four weights with which he could weigh integral pounds from one up to 40. How many pounds was each weight?
A lady being asked how old she was at the time of her marriage replied that the age of her oldest son was 13; that he was born 2 years after her marriage...
Given a semicircle, Prove that if O is the circle's center, DO=OE.
How a translation of Peano's counterexample to the 'theorem' that a zero Wronskian implies linear dependence can help your differential equations students