Take in Mind - Science for the curious. Popular science for people who love riddles, mysteries, culture and non-standard thinking

Echoes of Ancient Medical Wisdom

June 9, 2024 By Leonid Livshits

Good day, dear Take in Mind readers! Being “amazed” by (that’s right, in quotes) the absurdity of another instance of prioritization of the social overRead More

Big and Small

December 12, 2023 By Leonid Livshits

Good day, dear Take in Mind readers! I don’t want to sound pathetically cliche, but it’s undeniable that nature is unmatchable when it comes toRead More

Ancient Roman Holiday

July 29, 2023 By Leonid Livshits

Good day, dear “Take in Mind” readers! Is the heat of July got you, but air conditioning and cold watermelon are not enough? Why notRead More

The Sixth Sense – Smelling Parkinson’s

June 10, 2023 By Samyon Ristov

We’ve all heard such rumors or stories. They are usually of an old woman, who lives in a small village and possesses unique healing abilities,Read More

“Fly Me to the Moon”

May 1, 2023 By Leonid Livshits

Good day, dear Take in Mind readers! Please close your eyes and imagine… Summer night. You can’t sleep. You prepare a cup of tea andRead More

“With dainty like that, isn’t it nice to have a chat?”

March 26, 2023 By Leonid Livshits

The British envoy has come forOur refreshment after night before…The Tale of Soldier Fedot,The Daring Fellow by Leonid A. Filatov(Translated by Alec Vagapov) Preobrazhensky: If youRead More

“For never was a story of more woe…”

February 21, 2023 By Leonid Livshits

Good day, dear Take in Mind readers! The tender, but very tragic love story of two teenagers from Verona is known, I think, to almostRead More

The Endless Ribbon

January 29, 2023 By Samyon Ristov

Why did the chicken cross the road? To get to the other side. — Why did the chicken cross the Möbius strip? To get toRead More

Pushkin, Tofalars, and plagiarism

December 17, 2022 By Leonid Livshits

Three fair maidens, late one night,Sat and spun by candlelight.“Were our tsar to marry me,”Said the eldest of the three,“I would cook and I wouldRead More

Dimensions – A Weird Fourth-Dimensional Bottle

November 4, 2022 By Samyon Ristov

In this series of articles, slowly but surely, we uncover the secrets of the fourth dimension. We already got familiar with the hyper-cube, particularly theRead More

Scientific Humor

About man’s fidelity!

…and there is another story. Once Thomas Edison’s wife told him: “Darling, you are so tired! Go somewhere, relax, have a rest, enjoy your time…” Edison listened to his wife’s wise advice, instantly packed up, and disappeared somewhere… The next day she found the inventor… in his own laboratory, where he actually spent the previous day and night, working with enthusiasm. To her surprised question, happy Edison replied: “Oh my, I’ve rested so well!”

Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931) was a famous American inventor and businessman

Take a look

Once upon a time, a Brahmin (sage) invented the game of chess to teach the cruel Raja (the ruler) to treat his subjects well. In that game, the “Raja” (the name of one of the chess pieces) is the head of the state. If the “Raja” is captured, then his state ceases to exist. In case of danger, the “Raja” cannot survive without his faithful defenders and assistants – other figures.

The Raja was amazed by the game, understood its meaning, and promised not to oppress his subjects in the future. He then asked the Brahmin to choose the greatest reward he may wish for. The Brahmin replied that he wants to be rewarded with… wheat, but based on the following calculation: put one grain on the first cell of the chessboard, two on the second, four on the third, eight on the fourth, etc., doubling the number of grains on each subsequent cell.

The Raja, seeing that there are only 64 cells on the board, was surprised at the insignificance of the request. He decided that it’ll take about one or two sacks of wheat to fulfill it and gave the order to issue the reward immediately. Soon, the court mathematicians reported that the Raja would have to give so many grains, for which it would be necessary to sow the entire Earth, and the grown wheat would be enough to feed the whole population of Earth for 100 years.

Of course, the Raja could not fulfill his hasty promise and received another wise lesson from the inventor of the game of chess.

— A folk tale. Retold in the book “A complete course of chess: 64 lessons for beginners and not very experienced player”s, by S.B. Gubnitsky, M.G. Khanukov, S.A. Shedey.

The photo (own work) illustrates the second part of the fable, about exponential growth. In some variations, rice is requested instead of wheat, but in the photo, Wild Rice is used. The chess pieces’ positions are not random but positioned as in one of the first known chess riddles. In fact, it’s not even a chess riddle, but a Mansuba, a Shatranj problem, composed by Abu Na’im al Khadim (9th century). Shatranj is an old form of chess, with very similar rules. The differences in the rules don’t affect the riddle. White to move, and mate in three.

An easier view of the riddle is available in the first comment. Can you solve one of the oldest chess riddles?

Image source: Own work.

Think about

A few words about imagination

“I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.” ― Albert Einstein (1879-1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist.

The great German mathematician David Hilbert (1862–1943) noticed that one of his students had started missing his lectures. When he asked for the reason, he was told that the student had left mathematics in favor of poetry. “Ah, yes,” said Hilbert, “I always thought he didn’t have enough imagination for mathematics…”

It is strange that only extraordinary men make the discoveries, which later appear so easy and simple. Georg Lichtenberg (1742 – 1799) was a German experimental physicist.

“You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him discover it in himself.” Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) was an Italian astronomer, mathematician, physicist, and philosopher.

“To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk.” — Thomas A. Edison (1847-1931) was an American inventor and businessman.