A Problem of Numbers (As Chemist to Chemist)

Isaac Asimov | published May, 1970

added Aug 24, 2024
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First Date of Publication
May, 1970
Original Source
Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine
Medium
Short Story
Original Language
English
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Summary: A grad student is asked to solve a math puzzle by his professor in order to win his daughter’s hand in marriage.

Story Tag Line: “You mean you want me to solve a cryptogram and if I do, then you’ll approve the marriage?”

Reviews

  • Vijay Fafat
    Published on

    Prof. Neddring’s Ph.D. student, Hal Kemp, is in love with his daughter and wishes to marry her. Prof. Neddring likes him but wants him to solve a puzzle right then and there before he acquiesces. So he writes down a 20-digit number - “69663717263376833047” - and asks him to decrypt it “on the spot”. Which Hal does through a very circuitous reasoning and in the end, admits that he sort of knew the answer before-hand… One of the many flimsy affairs Asimov wrote.