Have fun with today’s cryptogram and have a MARVELOUS MONDAY
Clue:
It’s kind of like “What is the square of (-1)?”
...said the man who could solve partial differential equations in his head.
Fun story about him: a couple of other scientists approached him with a mathematical puzzle:
There are 2 bikes, 120 miles apart. They are each traveling directly towards the other, each at 15 mph. There is a fly on the front tire of the first bike.
The instant the bikes start moving, the fly goes straight toward the second bike. And as soon as it reaches the second bike the fly turns around. And it keeps going until it gets squished between the two bikes’ front tires when they meet.
If the the fly travels at 5 mph, how far did the fly travel?
Our author thought for a few seconds and gave the answer.
The scientists replied “Correct. And I’m glad you took the short way, by figuring out how long the bikes would take meet, and then figure out how far a thing going 5 mph travels in that time. Most people try to solve it by doing the limiting case of the infinite series.”
Our author replied, puzzled, “What do you mean? I *did* solve the infinite series...”
