Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Ancient Egyptians' (and others') math puzzlers

Ancient Egyptian Math puzzles
From NY Times, description of some cool ancient texts with math puzzles, such as how much bread (made from a certain amount of grain) should be exchanged for a given amount of beer (made with another amount of grain). Also, word problems about slaves carrying logs, the height of a ship's mast, and sacred cats chasing mice.

Monday, December 6, 2010

Italian Fashion House Gets Involved in Monument Preservation

Italian Shoe Magnate to Fund Colosseum Restoration
The CEO of "Tod's," an Italian designer house, has agreed to fund the badly-needed shoring-up of the Colosseum. The Italian government put out a call for sponsors, but none came forward for a while. The mayor of Rome promises no giant shoe ads on the outside of the monument. We'll see.