Problems from Another Time

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

You have two sums of money, the difference of which is 2 dirhams; you divide the smaller sum by the larger and the quotient is equal to 1/2. What are the two sums of money?
The authors recount the 'great tale' of Napier's and Burgi's parallel development of logarithms and urge you to use it in class.
In how many ways can a vowel and a consonant be chosen out of the word "logarithms?"
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.
Make a crown of gold copper, tin, and iron weighing 60 minae: gold and copper shall be 2/3 of it; gold and tin, 3/4 of it; and gold and iron, 3/5 of it. Find the required weights of gold, copper, tin, and iron.
A ladder has 100 steps. On the first step sits 1 pigeon; on the second, 2; on the third, 3; and so on up to the hundredth. How many pigeons in all?
How a translation of Peano's counterexample to the 'theorem' that a zero Wronskian implies linear dependence can help your differential equations students
Heron of Alexandria (ca 200) wrote on many aspects of applied mathematics.
A teacher agreed to teach 9 months for $562.50 and his board. At the end of the term, on account of two months absence caused by sickness, he received only$409.50. What was his board worth per month?
Find the isoceles triangle of smallest area that circumscribes a circle of radius 1.