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Yes I remember that too, it had various puzzles and mathematical curiosities.
Along the bottom of each page was the continuing decimal places of the value of pi. They must have started at edition 1 with 3.1416.........
I think we got it at the end of each term. One famous problem was that of two ladders (18ft and 12ft) in an alleyway, each leaning against opposite walls from the base of the other wall. Looking down the alley from the end, they crossed 6ft from the ground and you had to work out the width of the alleyway. I never did see a satisfactory solution to it.
On the subject of reading, the new library at Oakbank was actually quite pleasant with some quiet alcoves. My favourite alcove was the one in the far corner near the office which had a few seminal books including Joseph Conrad's 'Lord Jim' and Arthur Grmble's 'A Pattern of Islands'. I also remember the Labour MP at the time John Binns giving an amusing speech in there about his parliamentary duties and foibles.
Yes Brian. I also remember the two ladders problem though me recollection is that they were 9ft and 16ft long - in any case it's irrelevant to the principle of the problem.
I achieved a solution in the easiest possible way.
In my early days at university I was involved with a sixth form girl from Middlesbrough [a long story] and she had a Maths teacher whom she found very irritating. I told her to give him the problem. He spent much of the Easter holiday on it but returned with the ingenious solution. He clearly had no better use for his time [though we had].
Sadly I lost the solution and all I can remember is that it used simultaneous equations.
Wasn't another of the problems in that magazine the one about the bridges of Konigsberg.Two river banks, two islands, seven bridges etc. etc. ?
Soluble only by using topology theory - all about surfaces - which brings us back to the previous posting. Mmmm.
Ah,yes, the 4A Foray.....I remember working on that erstwhile publication. Not only that, but, unless anyone can claim otherwise, I seem to recall that I had a direct bearing on the choice of name. We used to include silly little jokes like "Big Gym for sale, apply maths dept" Big Jim ? was the maths master at the time
Years at KBGS e.g. 1958-1964 (optional) bryanh@easynet.co.uk