> > > Q: If such a critter were to start at page one of volume 1 of Knuth
> > > ("Numerical Algorithms"?) and eat straight through to the last page of
> > > volume 3 ("Sorting and Searching"), how far would he go? To simplify
> > > the
> > > arithmetic, we'll adjust the dimensions and say that each cover is 1/8
> > > inch thick, and the paper of each volume is 1 inch thick.
>
> 3 + 5/8 if you're going to start inside V1 and they're all 1" thick and 5
> covers to go through. But V3, the only one I have, is at least 1.5" by
> itself. Maybe indeed reincarnation is the true cosmology and what Sallam
> encountered some early pioneer catching up on some great reading. Karma
> would seem to indicate some early IBMer.
What you need to remember is that page one of volume 1 is on the side next to
volume 2, and the last page of volume 3 is also next to volume 2 when books
are normally stored in order from left to right:
Vol. 1 Vol. 2 Vol. 3
||xxxxxx||||xxxxxx||||xxxxxx||
A B
|| are the covers (1/8" thick) and xxxxxx are the pages (1" thick). A is page 1
of volume 1, and B is the last page of volume 3. That gives four covers and all
the pages in volume 2 to eat through: 4x(.125)+1=1.5
--
Eric Dittman
dittman_at_dittman.net
Received on Wed Sep 10 2003 - 14:48:00 BST