31. Puzzle - January 12-18, 2014
Paul-
To paraphrase the Danish mathematician Piet Hein: “Puzzles worthy of attack prove their worth by fighting back.” (I’ve exchanged the original word “Problems” for “Puzzles.”)
My father was fascinated with word, logic and mathematical puzzles throughout most of his adult life. The books and crammed file drawers he devoted to his collection was legion in my family. As a result, he occasionally ran some of this stuff past me. I had a hard time with the mathematical teasers, to wit: “Sally has three apples, Bob has seven cousins, and a train is leaving Boston headed for New York at a constant 55 mph. How many cousins are related to Sally if she and her apples are part of a tragic rail crash just outside Albany? Solve for X.” But I loved the word and logic puzzles; the problem solving skills and ingenuity their solutions often demanded has made me the unquestionably peculiar person I am today and a real hit a remarkably few parties. Thanks, Dad.
Any-hoo, this picture has nothing to do with the aforementioned puzzles. These are figures formed with the seven, standard “Tangram” shapes. The origin of Tangram is a bit murky, but it definitely predates the 1800’s. It’s believed that Tangram was invented in China several hundred years ago, but I can’t verify this. The number of cataloged figures—abstract and otherwise—people have created with these seven shapes number in the several thousands. [Wikipedia states, “Over 6500 different tangram problems have been created from 19th century texts alone.] Cool.
The usual suspects: Olympus E500; 14.0mm-45.0mm (f3.5) lens at 17mm; 1/25 sec. at f3.6; ISO 800; tripod used; one incandescent light source.
To paraphrase the Danish mathematician Piet Hein: “Puzzles worthy of attack prove their worth by fighting back.” (I’ve exchanged the original word “Problems” for “Puzzles.”)
My father was fascinated with word, logic and mathematical puzzles throughout most of his adult life. The books and crammed file drawers he devoted to his collection was legion in my family. As a result, he occasionally ran some of this stuff past me. I had a hard time with the mathematical teasers, to wit: “Sally has three apples, Bob has seven cousins, and a train is leaving Boston headed for New York at a constant 55 mph. How many cousins are related to Sally if she and her apples are part of a tragic rail crash just outside Albany? Solve for X.” But I loved the word and logic puzzles; the problem solving skills and ingenuity their solutions often demanded has made me the unquestionably peculiar person I am today and a real hit a remarkably few parties. Thanks, Dad.
Any-hoo, this picture has nothing to do with the aforementioned puzzles. These are figures formed with the seven, standard “Tangram” shapes. The origin of Tangram is a bit murky, but it definitely predates the 1800’s. It’s believed that Tangram was invented in China several hundred years ago, but I can’t verify this. The number of cataloged figures—abstract and otherwise—people have created with these seven shapes number in the several thousands. [Wikipedia states, “Over 6500 different tangram problems have been created from 19th century texts alone.] Cool.
The usual suspects: Olympus E500; 14.0mm-45.0mm (f3.5) lens at 17mm; 1/25 sec. at f3.6; ISO 800; tripod used; one incandescent light source.
Kevin-
Okay, so I have this really good Gingerbread Cookie recipe. And I have cookie cutters in the shapes of puzzle pieces. What better excuse could there be do mix up ingredients and do some baking? But as I said, the recipe is really good, and before I knew it there were only three cookies remaining. I assume that if all the puzzle pieces could have been assembled together they would form something? A giant gingerbread man perhaps? But with only three puzzle pieces left there was nothing to do except make sure I captured an image for the WPOTM before it was too late. The exposure was ISO 1600, 1/40th of a second at f/8. My Nikon D3s was handheld and my 24-70mm Nikkor lens was zoomed to 42mm. And now I’m off to have another gingerbread cookie.
Okay, so I have this really good Gingerbread Cookie recipe. And I have cookie cutters in the shapes of puzzle pieces. What better excuse could there be do mix up ingredients and do some baking? But as I said, the recipe is really good, and before I knew it there were only three cookies remaining. I assume that if all the puzzle pieces could have been assembled together they would form something? A giant gingerbread man perhaps? But with only three puzzle pieces left there was nothing to do except make sure I captured an image for the WPOTM before it was too late. The exposure was ISO 1600, 1/40th of a second at f/8. My Nikon D3s was handheld and my 24-70mm Nikkor lens was zoomed to 42mm. And now I’m off to have another gingerbread cookie.
Byron-
I'm puzzled. Palm Springs is in a desert. As you can see in this photo, there are acres of dry sand bordered by dry streets. Apparently in Palm Springs they have a definition of "Flooded" that is different from mine.
I'm puzzled. Palm Springs is in a desert. As you can see in this photo, there are acres of dry sand bordered by dry streets. Apparently in Palm Springs they have a definition of "Flooded" that is different from mine.
Deron-
My puzzle is an age old question- Is the glass half full or half empty? In this case, is the bottle of Mexican Coca-Cola half full or half empty?
My puzzle is an age old question- Is the glass half full or half empty? In this case, is the bottle of Mexican Coca-Cola half full or half empty?