Take in Mind - Page 3 of 13 - Science for the curious. Popular science for people who love riddles, mysteries, culture and non-standard thinking

Above the salt

December 6, 2021 By Leonid Livshits

– Oh my, salt has been spilled! It’s a sign that a scandal is coming. – Maybe we can skip it? – Too late, myRead More

Incredible Mind: Divine Mathematics

November 13, 2021 By Samyon Ristov

Where do ideas come from? Have you ever thought about that? For example, you are trying to solve a problem and you are looking forRead More

Holding Out For A Hero – Heracles, Part I

October 30, 2021 By Leonid Livshits

Good day, dear Take in Mind readers! That’s right, we in Take in Mind can’t live without heroes! Recently, together with our readers, we haveRead More

Dimensions: One-Dimensional Chess

October 15, 2021 By Samyon Ristov

Every engineer and scientist knows that when facing a particularly complicated problem, it’s well-advised to reduce its complexity by reducing the problem to a smallerRead More

Sodom – The ancient Tunguska event

October 9, 2021 By Leonid Livshits

Good day, dear Take in Mind readers! When we created our site, one of the main ideas was our wish to objectively discuss any hypothesisRead More

In the animal world – Kangaroo

September 22, 2021 By Leonid Livshits

According to the myth, in 1770 Captain Cook asked the natives in Queensland, Australia, for the name of the strange, big, jumping animal. Their replyRead More

Family Bonds

September 8, 2021 By Leonid Livshits

Good day, dear readers of Take in Mind. I think that it goes without saying that the Family, especially in the difficult period of incessant wavesRead More

Word-pedigree: The method of radioactive dating in linguistics

August 25, 2021 By Leonid Livshits

Good day, dear Take in Mind readers! As humanity plunges deeper into the boundless expanses of scientific knowledge, the knowledge becomes specialized more and more.Read More

Spooky Science Stories – Friday the 13th Special

August 12, 2021 By Samyon Ristov

Friday the 13th, what an unlucky day. You can feel it, right? The shadows grow longer, the trees creak and moan in the wind, andRead More

The Olympic Tales – Australia

August 7, 2021 By Leonid Livshits

Good day, dear Take in Mind readers! Our last Olympic stop on the fairytale journey is the far and exotic Australia! Today’s fairytale is aRead 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.