Propositiones ad Acuendos Juvenes/Problems/39 - De Quodam Emptore in Oriente/Historical Note

Historical Note on Propositiones ad Acuendos Juvenes by Alcuin of York: Problem $39$: De Quodam Emptore in Oriente

This is numerically the same as a problem given by Abu Kamil $\text {c. 900}$, except that the latter uses ducks, hens and sparrows.

Abu Kamil discusses the One Hundred Fowls problems at some length, even investigating $4$ and $5$ different types of bird.

Thus it may be that this problem was circulating in both Europe and Arabia for some time before Alcuin of York presents it here.

David Singmaster points out that Alcuin may very well never have seen a camel, unless when he visited Rome.

However, he would of course have read about them in the Bible.

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