Propositiones ad Acuendos Juvenes/Problems/27 - De Civitate Quadrangula/Historical Note
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Historical Note on Propositiones ad Acuendos Juvenes by Alcuin of York: Problem $27$: De Civitate Quadrangula
The Egyptian Formula for Area of Quadrilateral is being used to estimate the total area of the town.
Alcuin makes no indication of actually trying to fit the houses into the town.
Because the shape of the town is not actually rectangular, the exercise is not trivial.
David Singmaster reports that he has tried, but cannot actually get any more than $519$ in, and that is by turning the houses in either direction.
Sources
- 1992: John Hadley/2 and David Singmaster: Problems to Sharpen the Young (Math. Gazette Vol. 76, no. 475: pp. 102 – 126) www.jstor.org/stable/3620384