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The curious rectangles of Rollett and Rees

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 August 2016

P. N. Ruane
P. N. Ruane*
Affiliation:
157 Mildmay Road, Chelmsford, Essex CM2 0DU. e-mail: [email protected]
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Extract

Over sixty years ago, a schoolmaster by the name of A. P. Rollett set a problem for a lower fifth form class which was unwittingly based upon the famous Archimedean problem of the Arbelos. This caused his pupils substantial difficulties and eventually it prompted Rollett to send a Note to the Mathematical Gazette seeking the mathematical insights of the readership regarding this question. He received very helpful responses from over twenty readers whose numbers included many notable mathematicians of the day such as E. A. Maxwell, E. H. Neville and R. S. G. Rutherford etc. Solutions were also received from two members of the clergy, (Canon) D. B. Eperson and the Rt Revd the Bishop of Kootenay, which may suggest that this problem was of sufficient intractability as to be deserving of divine inspiration! But this was not the end of it because, during the next twentythree years, there followed a series of very interesting related notes and articles continuing up to 1960 all of which made reference to Rollett’s initial homework problem of 1937.

Type
Articles
Information
The Mathematical Gazette , Volume 85 , Issue 503 , July 2001 , pp. 208 - 225
Copyright
Copyright © The Mathematical Association 2001

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