Abstract
A few considerations of climbing-snail problem: Fibonacci's error, problem's popularity and Mexican students' performances
Highlights
Enigmas and riddles are part of human culture since ancient times
While previously number amusements were inserted sporadically in mathematical books, the genre of “recreational mathematics” begins in 1612, with the book “Entertaining problems solved with numbers,” written by the French mathematician Bachet
It is not so widely known that the fast-thinking students’ answer was «professional answer» given by mathematicians in Middle Age to different formulations of climbing snail problem during a few centuries, for example, in Italy from early 13th century to late 15th century and in Germany even in early 16th century (Singmaster, 2004)
Summary
Enigmas and riddles are part of human culture since ancient times. Their popularity and long life reveal deep human obsession with mysterious and unknown layers of life and world (Danesi, 2002).In Greek mythology, the most famous enigma concerns Sphinx, the daughter of King Laius, a creature with wings, lion’s body, face and chest of a woman. We will comment later about the influence of the position of the correct answer on the students’ performances It is not so widely known (but it surely should be!) that the fast-thinking students’ answer was «professional answer» given by mathematicians in Middle Age to different formulations of climbing snail problem during a few centuries, for example, in Italy from early 13th century to late 15th century and in Germany even in early 16th century (Singmaster, 2004). The fact that the climbing-snail problem activates “fast thinking”, leading to a wrong answer, makes it a very good item for the books on mathematical problem solving written for teachers (Posamentier & Krulik, 2008; Posamentier & Krulik, 2009; Sonnabend, 2010). 2) Do students’ performances in solving climbing-snail problem depend on the position of the correct answer in multiple-choice format?. How many days and how many nights does the snail need to climb to the top of the pole?”
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