George Gamow’s book One Two Three…Infinity – Facts and speculations of Science published in 1947 by Viking Press and reprinted by Mentor Books for the New American Library in 1953, included a problem about a lost treasure.
According to Gamow’s original story, there was a young and adventurous man who found, among his grandfather’s papers, a parchment that revealed clues to the location of a great treasure. According to the parchment, the treasure was buried on a certain island, and using two prominent trees and an old broken Gallows the exact location could be obtained. Alas the Gallows were gone, and despite the young man digging holes all over the island, the treasure remained hidden.
While the authors in this blog have added their own colour to the story the original puzzle remains completely intact. Three separate proofs are given that show that the location of the Gallows was irrelevant to finding the treasure, but please don’t tell that young man.
According to Gamow’s original story, there was a young and adventurous man who found, among his grandfather’s papers, a parchment that revealed clues to the location of a great treasure. According to the parchment, the treasure was buried on a certain island, and using two prominent trees and an old broken Gallows the exact location could be obtained. Alas the Gallows were gone, and despite the young man digging holes all over the island, the treasure remained hidden.
While the authors in this blog have added their own colour to the story the original puzzle remains completely intact. Three separate proofs are given that show that the location of the Gallows was irrelevant to finding the treasure, but please don’t tell that young man.
| blog_18_gamows_puzzle.pdf |
RSS Feed