Puzzles
Alcuin's inheritance trap
A dying man leaves 960 shillings and a pregnant wife. His will says: if she bears a son, the son gets 9/12 of the estate and she gets 3/12; if a daughter, the daughter gets 7/12 and the mother 5/12. She has twins — one of each. How should the estate actually be divided?
Reveal the answer
There's no clean arithmetic answer — that's the point. Commentators note Alcuin's own solution mishandles the underlying Roman inheritance law, making this less a maths problem than a lesson in how badly intent and arithmetic can collide. It's Problem 35, 'De Obitu Cuiusdam Patrisfamilias,' from Alcuin of York's 9th-century Propositiones ad Acuendos Juvenes.
— Alcuin of York (attrib.), Propositiones ad Acuendos Juvenes — Problem 35, c. 800 CE