Did Archimedes Write a Problem That Took 2,200 Years to Solve?

Поделиться
HTML-код
  • Опубликовано: 30 янв 2025

Комментарии • 1,1 тыс.

  • @bensyversen
    @bensyversen  8 месяцев назад +854

    There’s one other hypothesis about who wrote this that I found but didn’t mention in the video: Some propose that the original problem can be traced back to Archimedes but the poem itself was written later.
    Indeed, Archimedes was not much of a poet: some scholars that I read described Archimedes’ use of language as very simple. Suitable for expressing mathematical ideas but not poetry.

    • @McBloodFart
      @McBloodFart 8 месяцев назад +78

      archimedeez nuts

    • @NotSomeJustinWithoutAMoustache
      @NotSomeJustinWithoutAMoustache 8 месяцев назад +50

      ​@@McBloodFartArchimedes if he was a good poet:

    • @jaimeduncan6167
      @jaimeduncan6167 8 месяцев назад +15

      Do you know how old is the oldest manuscript we have? I wonder how fast would the problem run on a modern laptop. Less than 8h in a 1965 computer does not seem large by current standars.

    • @bensyversen
      @bensyversen  8 месяцев назад +23

      @@jaimeduncan6167 Yeah there are instructions online for how to set up MatLab to solve this problem. I think it could probably be done on an iPhone these days.

    • @HorrorMakesUsHappy
      @HorrorMakesUsHappy 8 месяцев назад +4

      @2:27 when you "multiply by a least common denominator" ... Other than trial and error, was there some way to know to multiply by 891? Also, please do a video describing the geometric method mentioned at @1:19. I wonder if there were geometric methods for the other 3 parts to his riddle.

  • @admiralpiglet
    @admiralpiglet 8 месяцев назад +2172

    Archimedes was such a boss that not only he created a math problem for the ages, he also managed to present it in a poem form!

    • @Vernand1
      @Vernand1 8 месяцев назад +71

      Some of the first ever theories about atoms were also written in poems. I highly recommend you read it, it's interesting what conclusions they drew from what they were able to observe

    • @wheedler
      @wheedler 7 месяцев назад +3

      @@Vernand1 Read what?

    • @Vernand1
      @Vernand1 7 месяцев назад +13

      @@wheedler On the nature of things, by Lucretius

    • @zathary564
      @zathary564 7 месяцев назад +16

      I heard math questions between ancient mathematicians were always written in poems. They didn't have a universal algebraic equation model like us, so they wrote it in words and whole sentences.

    • @zathary564
      @zathary564 7 месяцев назад +1

      I heard math questions between ancient mathematicians were always written in poems. They didn't have a universal algebraic equation model like us, so they wrote it in words and whole sentences.

  • @NatetheNerdy
    @NatetheNerdy 8 месяцев назад +821

    I just want to point out that the first half of the riddle alone was seen as something that only the greatest minds could solve, and yet it's now a problem we expect our children to learn without pomp or circumstance. There is beauty in thaf fact.

    • @bensyversen
      @bensyversen  8 месяцев назад +107

      Absolutely true

    • @oldvlognewtricks
      @oldvlognewtricks 8 месяцев назад +97

      Same as circumnavigating the globe. Once a mark of a great adventurer: now as simple as paying for a few plane tickets.

    •  8 месяцев назад +27

      I don't think children solve sets of diophantine equations. Even though this one look easy. It would be a tough riddle for advanced university level of mathematics.

    • @rossjennings4755
      @rossjennings4755 7 месяцев назад +74

      In the first half, all the equations are completely linear, and the "diophantine" part doesn't require anything more complicated than multiplying through by a common denominator. A sufficiently dedicated 8th-grader could work out the solution using techniques learned in an algebra class. The second half is much harder though.

    • @travisray2934
      @travisray2934 7 месяцев назад +4

      I would have zero expectation that a child could work this problem out lol. Certainly on their own. Just the wording is archaic and difficult to understand fully (for me, I'm sure I'll be corrected on how it's actually the simplest thing ever to understand) and that's not even touching the math. I'm sure that there are plenty of 8th graders that can solve these things nowadays but to expect it is crazy to me. More like, "wow, that kid solved this? Bet he/she is fckn brilliant". Albeit I'm a bit of a dope myself. Especially with math 😅

  • @TeaRiker
    @TeaRiker 8 месяцев назад +2264

    Math problems today: Solve this problem now!! :((
    Ancient math problems: If you art diligent and wise, *formulates the problem as a one page long poetry*

    • @bensyversen
      @bensyversen  8 месяцев назад +147

      Yes indeed 🧐😂

    • @SeekingTheLoveThatGodMeans7648
      @SeekingTheLoveThatGodMeans7648 8 месяцев назад +25

      @@bensyversen It sure took the invention of the early modern computer, with its processing power and storage, to do it. How much time would it take mathematicians in Illinois, working by hand, to crank out such a number? Probably till the sun dies, by a gut guess, and that's if it proceeded mistake-free.

    • @antipastamony
      @antipastamony 8 месяцев назад +46

      back in high school my friends and I turned in an incredibly dumb word problem that was over a page long for a geometry project. it was entitled “the purposeful porta-potty problem” and while we got an A we were banned from writing long word problems by our teacher, a badge we wore with honor. I’d link it for your amusement, but I’m not sure youtube would like that very much.

    • @bensyversen
      @bensyversen  8 месяцев назад +18

      @@antipastamony Haha that sounds awesome.

    • @Sagitarria
      @Sagitarria 8 месяцев назад +6

      @@bensyversenit’s perfectly possible to use a modern translation rather then one in archaic English

  • @QuickSmasherEXE
    @QuickSmasherEXE 8 месяцев назад +941

    Man, can you believe they fit all those cattle on the island of Sicily?

    • @renaatsenechal
      @renaatsenechal 7 месяцев назад +119

      Factory farming has to end

    • @life_is_a_myth
      @life_is_a_myth 7 месяцев назад +33

      ​@@renaatsenechalNo to veganism

    • @sandermez3856
      @sandermez3856 7 месяцев назад +8

      they didn't. those are the children of the cows. s the cows and bulls where on the island but perhaps not children afterwards?

    • @pdonettes
      @pdonettes 6 месяцев назад +9

      They were very small cattle.

    • @DhoklaAboveVadapav
      @DhoklaAboveVadapav 6 месяцев назад +15

      @@pdonettes I am pretty sure that the smallest of cattles are bigger than atoms.

  • @SitioLumbia
    @SitioLumbia 8 месяцев назад +825

    Archimedes made " johnny bought 8⁹ bananas " problem to a whole 'nother lever.

    • @epigone1796
      @epigone1796 8 месяцев назад +58

      I don't know whether "lever" was a typo, or a reference to Archimedes quote "Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world."

    • @SitioLumbia
      @SitioLumbia 8 месяцев назад +21

      @@epigone1796 it's a typo but let it be.

    • @Abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz1024
      @Abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz1024 6 месяцев назад +3

      134,217,728 bananas! I got it

    • @Bigchickenburger
      @Bigchickenburger 6 месяцев назад

      ​@@Abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz1024 how to?

    • @Doge_rbx8
      @Doge_rbx8 3 месяца назад

      ​@@Bigchickenburger8x8 = 64, 64x8 = 512, 512x8 = 4094, repeat that process 9 times

  • @aname1190
    @aname1190 8 месяцев назад +476

    Imagine Archimedes’s answer is just “bro that is impossible. There’s no cow of all 4 types” which would fulfill all 4 conditions

    • @olegshevchenko5869
      @olegshevchenko5869 7 месяцев назад +82

      "There's either no cows at all or more cows than there are atoms in the universe. However, since the cows are contained in the said universe, there aren't enough atoms to build them all, so therefore 0 cows is the only correct answer."

    • @bensoncheung2801
      @bensoncheung2801 7 месяцев назад

      @@olegshevchenko5869🧠

    • @GurpreetSingh-qt5wh
      @GurpreetSingh-qt5wh 3 месяца назад +4

      This is genius ( I know nothing about maths)

    • @MrDragonorp
      @MrDragonorp 18 дней назад

      ​@@olegshevchenko5869 tbh first you need to know what is an atom, how many in the universe, what even is a universe, and to prove that the number of cows is larger then that .
      This pr9blem also hard if not imposs8ble at the time

  • @acenutella1196
    @acenutella1196 8 месяцев назад +1911

    Wouldn't it be funny if he actually knew the answer and was the only person to know for 2200 years

    • @aceman0000099
      @aceman0000099 8 месяцев назад +250

      It would be a fucking groundbreaking discovery in the field of human biology to be honest

    • @ensiehsafary7633
      @ensiehsafary7633 8 месяцев назад

      Yeah like a super computer brain😂​@@aceman0000099

    • @silverseacow
      @silverseacow 8 месяцев назад +7

      @@aceman0000099 true

    • @locrianphantom3547
      @locrianphantom3547 8 месяцев назад +66

      How would he even write that down?

    • @_Gam3r
      @_Gam3r 8 месяцев назад +78

      @@locrianphantom3547 eh, knowing him he probably memorized it in his head

  • @nisgreaterthanzero
    @nisgreaterthanzero 8 месяцев назад +381

    Great video! I'd never heard of this problem before. I always thought that not having enough computing power was a modern dilemma. I never knew people were posing problems in ancient Greece that would take supercomputers to solve.
    Imagine how Archimedes would feel knowing his puzzle survived this long, and the unimaginable tools we used to finally solve it.

    • @bensyversen
      @bensyversen  8 месяцев назад +41

      Thank you and yes indeed!

    • @tcoren1
      @tcoren1 8 месяцев назад +21

      It was a supercomputer in 1965, probably a lot of modern fridges have more powerful computers, to say nothing of like, the NES and stuff

    • @bensyversen
      @bensyversen  8 месяцев назад +32

      Yeah there's a commenter on here somewhere who wrote that his grandfather (who passed away last week at 92) worked on the team that made that supercomputer in 1965 and programmed the software to solve the problem. So cool that he found the video. I asked him if he wanted to share any more about his grandfather but didn't hear back.

    • @SeekingTheLoveThatGodMeans7648
      @SeekingTheLoveThatGodMeans7648 8 месяцев назад +6

      @@tcoren1 It's remarkable to me that we chased a grains of sand scale problem with silicon.

    • @SeekingTheLoveThatGodMeans7648
      @SeekingTheLoveThatGodMeans7648 8 месяцев назад +1

      @@tcoren1 The storage of that much data needs more than a refrigerator controller is equipped with. But, given the storage, which to be honest today might only be as big as a postage stamp, these itty bitty modern processors, also no bigger than a postage stamp, would be well up to the task in a reasonable time.

  • @supercompooper
    @supercompooper 8 месяцев назад +246

    My best friend, Gus German, solveed the Archimedes cattle problem at the university of Waterloo on an old IBM computer (with two others). RIP Gus, miss u man! He also invented RAID.

    • @bensyversen
      @bensyversen  8 месяцев назад +51

      That is amazing! There is another commenter (whose post I think you found), @ussgordoncaptain, whose grandfather recently passed and also worked on the problem.

    • @ric6611
      @ric6611 8 месяцев назад +46

      shadow legends?!

    • @CameraMan-it4qz
      @CameraMan-it4qz 8 месяцев назад +28

      He has departed crowned with glory and knowing that he has been adjudged perfect in this species of wisdom.

    • @QuickSmasherEXE
      @QuickSmasherEXE 8 месяцев назад +5

      ​@@bensyversenFire Emblem LTC player ussgordoncaptain?

    • @kshitijsingh2412
      @kshitijsingh2412 8 месяцев назад +4

      ​@@ric6611 bro seriously 🤣

  • @BlitzoITA
    @BlitzoITA 8 месяцев назад +138

    I love these kinds of math videos even though I never fully understand what's happening. This one was specifically well done. This should get more views

  • @notajalapeno4442
    @notajalapeno4442 8 месяцев назад +579

    thats too many cows

    • @Sugar3Glider
      @Sugar3Glider 8 месяцев назад +64

      50,000,000,000 Lions gonna take the L on this one.

    • @dogdoggddog
      @dogdoggddog 8 месяцев назад +14

      Someone had to say it

    • @yb3604
      @yb3604 8 месяцев назад +5

      great point

    • @JerryCernava
      @JerryCernava 8 месяцев назад +11

      Serious global warming!😂

    • @fanman-sn7po
      @fanman-sn7po 8 месяцев назад +2

      never enough

  • @TARINunit9
    @TARINunit9 8 месяцев назад +167

    Now remember one of the Twelve Labors of Hercules was to clean up after all these cows

    • @FRANCIS4117.
      @FRANCIS4117. 8 месяцев назад +13

      ouch he must have been mad

    • @sonofcronos7831
      @sonofcronos7831 7 месяцев назад +7

      It was not these cows in Sicily, but other cows in Elis

    • @shadowseek27
      @shadowseek27 7 месяцев назад +16

      ​@@sonofcronos7831Myths change and evolve. I'm down to change it to this

    • @redstocat5455
      @redstocat5455 5 месяцев назад

      I don't think he could do that

    • @FelixNothus
      @FelixNothus 5 месяцев назад +2

      Wasn't it horses?

  • @DellariSafire
    @DellariSafire 8 месяцев назад +3838

    archimedes really just stayed up a few hours too late and decided to make the math version of a shitpost
    Edit: Dad can you come back with the milk now?

    • @Mr-__-Sy
      @Mr-__-Sy 8 месяцев назад +38

      basically this

    • @oz_jones
      @oz_jones 8 месяцев назад +165

      More like bullshit post.
      I'll go.

    • @MeltedPancakes
      @MeltedPancakes 8 месяцев назад +44

      @@oz_jonesDon’t go that was good

    • @epicutmmgamer5366
      @epicutmmgamer5366 8 месяцев назад +33

      @@oz_jonesnonono youre staying

    • @kooolainebulger8117
      @kooolainebulger8117 8 месяцев назад

      white boys wildn'

  • @gustavgnoettgen
    @gustavgnoettgen 8 месяцев назад +753

    How many legs does a cow have?
    12
    Two in the front, two in the rear, two left, two right, and one on each corner.

    • @suhaskanuganti7967
      @suhaskanuganti7967 8 месяцев назад +47

      LMAO true, a human would have 8, 2 in the front, 2 in the back, 1 on the left, 1 on the right and 1 on each corner, LMAO

    • @The_Alpha_E
      @The_Alpha_E 8 месяцев назад +24

      ​@@suhaskanuganti7967No corners

    • @Anarchodemsyak
      @Anarchodemsyak 8 месяцев назад +4

      I don't get this one. Please explain?

    • @gustavgnoettgen
      @gustavgnoettgen 8 месяцев назад +72

      @@Anarchodemsyak Did you expand my comment? The joke is a faulty counting method. A cow indeed has two legs in front, two in the rear, two on each corner... but you don't just add them like that, you keep track of what you counted.
      Edit: whoops haha ONE on each corner of course.

    • @Anarchodemsyak
      @Anarchodemsyak 8 месяцев назад +6

      @@gustavgnoettgen Ahhh, I get it. I did read it, I was just slow to understand, lol

  • @alvoi2k
    @alvoi2k 8 месяцев назад +66

    Great video. I already knew the problem and the story, but you were so good at explaining it that I still watched the full video! My compliments

    • @bensyversen
      @bensyversen  8 месяцев назад +7

      Thank you! I was hoping to make it entertaining enough to satisfy those who already know the story

  • @adam17tt
    @adam17tt 8 месяцев назад +63

    The construction of this question alone is already incredible. The question itself is simple, but the solution is incalculable!

    • @Quincy_Morris
      @Quincy_Morris 7 месяцев назад +2

      Question ain’t simple.

  • @huzaifamansoor4068
    @huzaifamansoor4068 4 месяца назад +15

    Imagine Archimedes watching this video. He'd he proud of your explanation and humanity for finally finding it's solution

    • @bensyversen
      @bensyversen  4 месяца назад +2

      I hope so and thank you!

    • @MindlessMagic
      @MindlessMagic 4 месяца назад +2

      I don't think he would understand as he speaks a different language

  • @AdrianCruz_
    @AdrianCruz_ 8 месяцев назад +16

    Stuff like this that involves math and history always fascinates me. Unknown to them in the past whether we would be still working on and using the problems to test computers. Imagine what the future may bring us

  • @2394098234509
    @2394098234509 8 месяцев назад +9

    I like this video a lot. Really good exposition. It's at exactly the right level of detail where you can go through it carefully if you want and check all the details, or you can ignore them and just follow along at a high level. And the animations are on point too.

    • @bensyversen
      @bensyversen  7 месяцев назад +1

      Thank you! That's exactly what I was going for so I'm happy to hear that it worked for you.

  • @rodri882
    @rodri882 8 месяцев назад +20

    I thought this was a viral video and then I looked at the views... This video is highly well done and definitely deserves more views, keep it up!

    • @Iv_john_vI
      @Iv_john_vI 8 месяцев назад +1

      A bug in the algorithm allowed an interesting video to pass to it's viewers!

  • @Markfr0mCanada
    @Markfr0mCanada 8 месяцев назад +39

    As a Canadian, I'm very happy to hear that it was my country men who achieved something noteworthy in this video, even if it means that they got trolled by a 2000 year old shitpost.

  • @asdfhjoaijfosdfhkasjnkaa
    @asdfhjoaijfosdfhkasjnkaa 8 месяцев назад +8

    What an amazing video! Never knew about this problem, and you were so good at explaining it. It's a question of time, when your channel will get its much deserved subscribers and attention!

  • @Dunkle0steus
    @Dunkle0steus 8 месяцев назад +21

    This video has the quality of a channel with 1 million subs. Congrats, man.

  • @JordanBeagle
    @JordanBeagle 7 месяцев назад +13

    11:40 I love that over 2,200 years ago they were still having beef with each other solving math problems

    • @bensyversen
      @bensyversen  7 месяцев назад

      Hey thanks for watching my video and leaving these comments! I’m glad you enjoyed it.

    • @nathanaelcheong9870
      @nathanaelcheong9870 3 месяца назад

      Haha beef

  • @shanetwomey5273
    @shanetwomey5273 8 месяцев назад +49

    Mate that was a great video! you are definitely going to blow up. Looking forward to watching whatever you upload next!

    • @bensyversen
      @bensyversen  8 месяцев назад +2

      Thank you so much! Glad you enjoyed it.

  • @ZMacZ
    @ZMacZ 8 месяцев назад +26

    Archimedes of Syracuse is one of the greatest scientists ever, if not the greatest.
    Basically a walking logic machine. If he were alive today he'd still be great.

    • @gamerx3071
      @gamerx3071 5 месяцев назад

      idk if even he can understand quantum physics tho

    • @FelixNothus
      @FelixNothus 5 месяцев назад

      Greatest huh? I want to see Archimedes 1v1 Da Vinci to be sure.

  • @Nukepositive
    @Nukepositive 8 месяцев назад +8

    Time traveler goes back 2,200 years. Achimedes: So, have you attained the wisdom of the ages? Time traveler: Oh, yeah. We solved it in less than 8 hours. We use it as a training ground to find out how to solve problems FASTER.

  • @soumajitsen1395
    @soumajitsen1395 8 месяцев назад +7

    I have no idea why the algorithm recommended this to me, but I am glad it did. Liked, subscribed and shared! :D

  • @sideeggunnecessary
    @sideeggunnecessary 4 месяца назад +11

    Mary had a little lamb, whose fleece was white as snow, and every where that Mary went, that lamb was sure to be equal to 1/5 + 1/7 of the dappled lamb plus the yellow lamb.

  • @deepseapenguin
    @deepseapenguin 6 месяцев назад +3

    I have to be honest this is probably one of the best math video I've ever watched
    He use a funny, humour way to explain the question to you, I had a little giggle while watching the intro, it's immediately grab my attention and i feel like i must continue watch
    When he actually start explaining the problem part by part, the background music + the way he explain makes me feel like im in an adventure with him, together looking at an ancient problem. Slowly getting out the answer and finding the result.
    I'm now regret that i never study my English well to express my feelings for this video.

  • @BeneluxMapperr
    @BeneluxMapperr 8 месяцев назад +53

    Bro, this video is criminally underrated

    • @bensyversen
      @bensyversen  8 месяцев назад +2

      Thank you!

    • @MaGaO
      @MaGaO 8 месяцев назад +1

      I'm doing a bit liking it

  • @travisray2934
    @travisray2934 7 месяцев назад +4

    Literally 3 seconds into the problem and I'm already at, " yeah fck math, dude."

    • @bensyversen
      @bensyversen  7 месяцев назад +1

      Aww. Thanks for taking the time to give it a try anyway

  • @MAATsBud
    @MAATsBud 8 месяцев назад +25

    What I'm worried about is that all of those cows and bulls that where in Sicily 0:55

  • @chaddrshiftjobro
    @chaddrshiftjobro 8 месяцев назад +4

    I've been interested in this problem for years, and this is a great explanation.

    • @bensyversen
      @bensyversen  8 месяцев назад +1

      Thank you, I’m very happy to hear that!

  • @Paplu-i5t
    @Paplu-i5t 8 месяцев назад +6

    Whoever it was that wrote that poem was aware of the profoundity of the solution.
    Hence he wrote that whoever can get it is the one who is wise among all men.
    In an age when people often challenged each other on who is greater - this was one way of a declaration pointing to oneself.

  • @TeaRiker
    @TeaRiker 8 месяцев назад +666

    wtf, i thought this video had 200k views or something

    • @bensyversen
      @bensyversen  8 месяцев назад +61

      Thanks :)

    • @fundowakin
      @fundowakin 8 месяцев назад +20

      True, I thought the same

    • @Thisone95
      @Thisone95 8 месяцев назад +10

      It certainly deserves more than the 3k it has right now.

    • @Guitareben
      @Guitareben 8 месяцев назад +13

      It will!

    • @kodirovsshik
      @kodirovsshik 8 месяцев назад +2

      Wait, it doesn't???

  • @rahevar3626
    @rahevar3626 7 месяцев назад +14

    The answer could also be zero.
    The only potential issue is that the problem states the number of bulls in each herd is "mighty." However, since "mighty" is not a standard term and is a relative property, this should not be held against it.

    • @adiaphoros6842
      @adiaphoros6842 Месяц назад +2

      Or "mighty" just says the answer isn't trivial.

  • @prajjawaltiwari9566
    @prajjawaltiwari9566 Месяц назад +3

    7:35 proud Indian🇮🇳
    8:52 thanks man for referring Indian mathematicians because nobody generally does this.🙏🙏

    • @bensyversen
      @bensyversen  Месяц назад +2

      I hope to learn more about Indian mathematics and eventually make some videos on the topic. However, my process is quite slow so this could take me a while

    • @prajjawaltiwari9566
      @prajjawaltiwari9566 Месяц назад +1

      @@bensyversen I am glad to hear that. Thank you so much from the depth of my heart.🙏♥️

  • @nosoysospechoso7951
    @nosoysospechoso7951 7 месяцев назад +1

    Not much of a math person myself, this video was really entertaining and fun. You deserve 1 like for each cow. Alas, I can only give you one. Good job.

    • @bensyversen
      @bensyversen  7 месяцев назад

      Thanks for watching! I'm glad you enjoyed it.

  • @clownymoosebean
    @clownymoosebean 8 месяцев назад +4

    I like how you play epic music whenever the cows are on screen.
    Really keeps me engaged, as someone who isn't good at math, and normally isn't interested in it.

  • @gidget330
    @gidget330 8 месяцев назад +1

    This Video is definitely about to blow up.
    Amazing video btw, loved the visuals❤❤

  • @hedgehog3180
    @hedgehog3180 7 месяцев назад +11

    Archemides was really like “oh you think you're so smart? Well prove the Riemann Hypothesis”.

  • @WinWitWon
    @WinWitWon 8 месяцев назад +1

    Amazing, and interesting the whole time, you probably hear this a lot, but im suprised at how few subs you have. Keep putting out bangers like this, and I bet you will go exponential!

  • @pastanick48
    @pastanick48 7 месяцев назад +3

    I guess even math problems from 2,200 years ago still had people with an unreasonable amount of the same thing

  • @HORRIOR1
    @HORRIOR1 4 месяца назад +3

    Forget cow level Archimedes figured a cow multiverse.

  • @samueljoseph7
    @samueljoseph7 8 месяцев назад +5

    Your channel is gonna blow up! nice work mate.

  • @nathancondron1120
    @nathancondron1120 3 месяца назад +2

    The fact that bored old people back in the day sent each other math poems brings me joy

  • @fantasyphilosophy3261
    @fantasyphilosophy3261 8 месяцев назад +3

    This video should easily have 100x the views. I hope it gets it soon

  • @clarencejohncabahug5466
    @clarencejohncabahug5466 8 месяцев назад +1

    This is like a version of 10 trillion lions vs the sun. But this time, the sheer amount of cattle can actually dwarf the sun.

  • @hughcrawford7403
    @hughcrawford7403 8 месяцев назад +2

    There is a point you can reach in the quality of educational RUclips videos, where the size of your channel and the number of views is primarily dictated by time and luck. It's where your videos are indistinguishable in quality to the greats in your field. It feels like one is watching Numberphile, 3B1B, or Stand Up Maths. The video is so indistinguishable from that of a larger channel, they people think they've somehow missed one of the biggest RUclipsrs in their area of interest. The comments are filled with "How does this not have more views?" Once you reach this point, you must simply wait until the algorithm blesses you, and hope it does so eventually.
    Welcome to the ranks mate, can't wait to see more of your content 🙂

    • @bensyversen
      @bensyversen  8 месяцев назад +1

      Thank you! Yes now I just have to work on making more videos. They take me a really long time but I’m getting better at it!

  • @atismoke
    @atismoke 8 месяцев назад +1

    Commenting to help with the algorithm, hope this channel gets recomended to other people!

  • @captaincole4511
    @captaincole4511 8 месяцев назад +13

    This video is ridiculously underrated, fantastic video

  • @idk01123
    @idk01123 8 месяцев назад +1

    Calling it now, this channel’s gonna make it big.

  • @scoutgaming737
    @scoutgaming737 8 месяцев назад +3

    Amazing video. Really underrated channel

  • @pinkraven4402
    @pinkraven4402 3 месяца назад

    It's insane that only one such a seemingly simple additional arithmetic could blow up the answer so much

  • @ussgordoncaptain
    @ussgordoncaptain 8 месяцев назад +14

    10:26 Hey! my grandfather was one of the people who worked on that supercomputer he actually wrote the software to solve it. So what you call a supercomputer back then is worse than your laptop you could probably do the computation in way way less time than it took them.

    • @bensyversen
      @bensyversen  8 месяцев назад +1

      Wow that is so cool! Is your grandfather still around?

    • @ussgordoncaptain
      @ussgordoncaptain 8 месяцев назад +1

      @@bensyversen he died last week. It happens when you're 92.

    • @bensyversen
      @bensyversen  8 месяцев назад +1

      I’m sorry for your loss. If it would be something you’d like or find meaningful, I’d love to hear a little more about your grandfather (and I could share it with the audience in tribute)

    • @supercompooper
      @supercompooper 8 месяцев назад

      ​@@bensyversengoogle Archimedes cattle problem gus German. Three students did it. Zarnke and Williams too!

    • @bensyversen
      @bensyversen  8 месяцев назад +1

      @@supercompooper So cool! I wonder which one was this guy's grandfather. It looks like Gus German died in 2022.

  • @DrBFromEarth
    @DrBFromEarth 4 месяца назад +2

    You are amazing. Incredible work!! Subscribed 😊

  • @noahway13
    @noahway13 8 месяцев назад +13

    01:22 I'm tapping out.

    • @bensyversen
      @bensyversen  8 месяцев назад +5

      Fair enough

    • @AlexandreHernandezvaldez
      @AlexandreHernandezvaldez 3 месяца назад +1

      ​​@@bensyversenyou now own photograph of motor car ,but property is theft 💯💯💯

  • @somal5827
    @somal5827 7 месяцев назад +2

    This story probably describes one of the first written records of shitposting in history. Archimedes was so fed up with someone that he decided to construct a really difficult math problem just to shut him up for a long time.

  • @swausgebouwen143
    @swausgebouwen143 8 месяцев назад +9

    0:16 spore galaxy assets?

    • @bensyversen
      @bensyversen  8 месяцев назад +1

      The milky way animation is from Envato Elements

  • @jodofe4879
    @jodofe4879 8 месяцев назад +1

    Iimagining having to do this without calculator makes my head hurt more than imagining the number of cattle does. Ancient mathematicians were something else.

  • @Onaneehsyu9286
    @Onaneehsyu9286 4 месяца назад +4

    And I thought my Math teachers were 'terrors' for their Math problems.

  • @fundowakin
    @fundowakin 8 месяцев назад +1

    Wtf, I wasn't expecting that this video only has ≈300 views. Well done, deserved my like❤

    • @bensyversen
      @bensyversen  8 месяцев назад

      Thank you!

    • @sinx2247
      @sinx2247 8 месяцев назад

      Woah you're right! I finished the video fully expecting it to have at least 10K views

  • @enderknight39
    @enderknight39 8 месяцев назад +3

    This deserves way more views.

  • @jackhandma1011
    @jackhandma1011 7 месяцев назад +2

    Mathematicians are doing a little trolling sometimes.
    Fermat: I have a marvelous proof of this but this margin is too narrow to contain it.
    Archimedes: If thou art diligent and wise, O stranger...

  • @andrzejsamorzewski146
    @andrzejsamorzewski146 8 месяцев назад +19

    The problem with this is that assuming one cow takes only 0.5 square meter, on the whole isle of Sicily you could barely squeeze 51422000000 of cows. Archimedes busted.

  • @sammy_trix
    @sammy_trix 7 месяцев назад +1

    It simply shows that Archimedes can post a problem, and it took so long in the present with our technology to solve. They were such smart and wise back then. Loved your videos. We need educational and inspiring videos like this more!

  • @mr.megalodonmegalodon758
    @mr.megalodonmegalodon758 Месяц назад +10

    answer is 4

  • @Clock_Man_2763
    @Clock_Man_2763 7 месяцев назад

    Archimedes pulling out a long 2200 year long sick social experiment to many mathematicians with this one 😂

  • @amazinggrapes3045
    @amazinggrapes3045 6 месяцев назад +7

    Why, Archimedes? Just why??

    • @Ariya037
      @Ariya037 5 месяцев назад

      They didn't have social media back then

  • @ionuto.1906
    @ionuto.1906 8 месяцев назад +1

    This was a great video! I am a first year university student(cs) and can't help but be amazed every time my calculus teacher traces back a certain idea or concept back to Archimedes. Had he lived in our times, he may very well have been able to move even the sun from its orbit!

  • @robertl4522
    @robertl4522 7 месяцев назад +4

    Helios *got milk* .

  • @bhatkrishnakishor
    @bhatkrishnakishor 7 месяцев назад

    Wow! Love your story telling. Subscribed for more of these types of videos.

  • @PGG-o6r
    @PGG-o6r 8 месяцев назад +3

    0:24 By the way, a beautiful interior painting

  • @alangivre2474
    @alangivre2474 8 месяцев назад

    You will have much much more than 7 thousand subscriptors!!! I was here a pioneer in discovering the channel.

  • @Alex-cw3rz
    @Alex-cw3rz 7 месяцев назад +3

    Eratosthenes : calculates the circumference of the earth using two sticks and their shadows and is only a few percent out.
    Archimedes : does the equalivant of when you sre bored and typing as many numbers as possible into a calculator.
    Wow Archimedes is the best mathematian of his age

    • @bensyversen
      @bensyversen  7 месяцев назад +1

      Hahaha that’s hilarious. In fairness, Archimedes did a lot of other stuff that’s far more significant than the cattle problem, but I thought this was a fun story.

  • @JaedenDeSousa
    @JaedenDeSousa 7 месяцев назад

    Hi ben . These type of videos are very intriguing for me and make math fun!! Could you please make a video on collatz's conjecture problem? Love your videos man!!!!

    • @bensyversen
      @bensyversen  7 месяцев назад

      Thank you! Maybe one day I will, but there are a bunch of other history topics I'm hoping to tackle as well, and also it would be hard to improve on Veritasium's video on the topic: ruclips.net/video/094y1Z2wpJg/видео.html

    • @JaedenDeSousa
      @JaedenDeSousa 7 месяцев назад

      Your welcome!!

  • @Arochishi
    @Arochishi 8 месяцев назад +6

    The english was harder to understand

  • @wailingalen
    @wailingalen 8 месяцев назад

    Very cool!!!! I'm a sucker for "educational" videos, astronomy, cosmology, languages, mathematics is a little over my head but I LOVE visual representations of mathematical concepts!!!
    That "elaborate geometric" triangle Pythagorean thing in the beginning with all the lines and angles was cool (1:48)

    • @bensyversen
      @bensyversen  8 месяцев назад

      Thanks for watching and I'm glad you enjoyed it! Yes, the idea that the ancient Greeks were using geometry to solve algebra problems is very cool. The diagram is based on the one from this video...this is a presentation from a college professor, so you might find it a little dense but he definitely does a great job presenting some of the methodology with more detail than I did: ruclips.net/video/qn_mJzm5QII/видео.htmlsi=y24GZyl5f0bKqqWc

  • @scaevolaludens679
    @scaevolaludens679 8 месяцев назад +24

    cool video, but the use of AI pictures is pretty shite

    • @bensyversen
      @bensyversen  8 месяцев назад +5

      Fair enough. I know that not everyone likes those

    • @Mr_PotatoMaster
      @Mr_PotatoMaster 8 месяцев назад +7

      @@bensyversenthey kinda take away from the video :/ there are a couple of free sources of drawings and pics that can substitute the use of AI

    • @bensyversen
      @bensyversen  8 месяцев назад +1

      I’d be curious to know if there were certain images in particular that bothered you, or if it was just a general sense. I’m still working out the best way to approach videos like this which require filling a lot of screen time with imagery of some sort

    • @kjh23gk
      @kjh23gk 8 месяцев назад +4

      @@bensyversen The main problem people have with AI art is that it sidesteps illustrators/artists.

    • @bensyversen
      @bensyversen  8 месяцев назад +3

      For sure. I’m sympathetic to that (former musician here), but it does also create capabilities for somebody like me who doesn’t have the budget to commission bespoke art to make things to spec. I subscribe to some stock image services as well but often can’t find what I need.
      I know this won’t satisfy everybody, but I do keep certain guardrails, such as never prompting for the style of a specific artist’s work.

  • @conorpillay4315
    @conorpillay4315 8 месяцев назад

    I am certain this video will get a lot of traction soon, which it wholeheartedly deserves!

  • @tennysonmathew7019
    @tennysonmathew7019 7 месяцев назад

    Lets assume that a cow 'C' exists and is continuous and differentiable over the period of length L=0 to L=Lc, where Lc is the length of the cow, then the derivative dC/dx that exists for any point 'p', (0 < p < Lc) is known as the '*steak*' of the Cow C at point p.
    -Butchers theorem

  • @zaxtonhong3958
    @zaxtonhong3958 8 месяцев назад +1

    “If you took every atom in the universe and made it its own universe, then the number of atoms in all of those universes”
    This is a cool way of saying atoms in the universe squared

  • @geenoix2357
    @geenoix2357 4 месяца назад

    imagine Archemedies ghost appears to tell you you're wrong

  • @chemoorestry6298
    @chemoorestry6298 8 месяцев назад +1

    4:59 about the test of a square number by looking at its prime factors is a bit misleading as it implies it's the only way. A square number will have all its prime factors with an even power, e.g. 10'000 = 2^4 x 5^4 = (2^2)^2 x (5^2)^2 = 4^2 x 25^2 = (4 x 25)^2 = 100^2. I get you were going for the smallest real solution but just to clarify for anyone interested.

    • @bensyversen
      @bensyversen  8 месяцев назад

      Thank you for clarifying, but yes the goal was to find the smallest square

    • @d.lawrencemiller5755
      @d.lawrencemiller5755 8 месяцев назад

      I came here to say this too and am delighted someone else noticed

  • @jaif7327
    @jaif7327 6 месяцев назад +1

    It does make me wonder if writing math problems in poems and generally easier ways to process makes the questions much more widely understood? As in that one superpermutations issue which was solved when someone rephrased it as watching an anime series in some specific orders.

  • @SnackMuay
    @SnackMuay 7 месяцев назад

    I love your content. Please keep it up!

  • @stefanhuber7357
    @stefanhuber7357 8 месяцев назад

    You are reminding me too much from the college math classes I’ve been trying to forget for years now 😢

  • @Potatoman2136
    @Potatoman2136 6 месяцев назад +1

    That map at 0:57 was one of the most interesting parts of this video

    • @bensyversen
      @bensyversen  6 месяцев назад +1

      It's here if you want to take a closer look: etc.usf.edu/maps/pages/10400/10489/10489.htm

    • @sakkoyaba4482
      @sakkoyaba4482 6 месяцев назад

      ​@@bensyversenbruh this dude prolly didnt even understand anything else😂😂

  • @conrad4852
    @conrad4852 7 месяцев назад

    This was quite enjoyable! Thank you!

  • @MaladyKayjo
    @MaladyKayjo 7 месяцев назад

    I think that he did this just to give a hypothetical massive number is that anybody smart enough would be able to realize how absurd it was

  • @bendkok
    @bendkok 8 месяцев назад +1

    Great video! Both educational and very entertaining.

    • @bensyversen
      @bensyversen  8 месяцев назад +2

      Glad you enjoyed it!

  • @CL2K
    @CL2K 8 месяцев назад +2

    I wonder how fast the auctioneers gotta rap to be able to sell off all that cattle!

  • @gabrielmelnik6796
    @gabrielmelnik6796 4 месяца назад +2

    I mean if he purposely disseminated wrong information as a practical joke then its not a surprise a lot of his math got lost or forgotten.

    • @bensyversen
      @bensyversen  4 месяца назад +2

      Well, it was a different time, to say the least, and Archimedes was indeed a bit of a prankster.
      It is also true that he was arguably the most ahead of his time of any scientist or mathematician in history. Reviel Netz, Stanford Professor of Greek Mathematics and Astronomy (and co-author of "The Archimedes Codex", which is an excellent book that I highly recommend!) argues that "Western science is but a series of footnotes to Archimedes."

  • @dwaynemontgomery1851
    @dwaynemontgomery1851 7 месяцев назад

    Reminds me of when a friend kept bragging about how he was smarter than everyone else so i took a book i knew had a looping ending and some chapters marked out of order, encrypted it using a pretty basic cypher, but gave it to him with all the chapters out of order and left out the page that tells you why some chapters are out of order along with the correct order

  • @captain_wheatley
    @captain_wheatley 8 месяцев назад

    Keep cooking with the math-history videos. This is peak!!!

  • @Alex-ik8pr
    @Alex-ik8pr 7 месяцев назад

    Love the video, well made - gonna warch some more!

  • @franciscohamlin7544
    @franciscohamlin7544 8 месяцев назад

    This video earned my subscription to your channel! Loved it!!!

  • @this-statement-is-cats
    @this-statement-is-cats 8 месяцев назад

    This is very underrated, i thought this was numberphile