[Math] Looking for Arnol’d quote about Russian students vs western mathematicians

ho.history-overviewreference-requestsoft-question

I think I once saw a sentence in an article by V.I. Arnol'd saying something like: here is a problem that every Russian schoolchild can solve, but no western mathematician can solve. But I can't find it now.

Does anyone know the quote and where it was written?

I ask because I'm preparing a talk on research by high school students, and I might include this quote if the actual wording isn't too inflammatory.

Best Answer

You possibly mean this 'two volumes' problem from the book ``Problems for children from 5 to 15'':

Russian original:

  1. На книжной полке рядом стоят два тома Пушкина: первый и второй. Страницы каждого тома имеют вместе толщину 2 см, а обложка –– каждая –– 2 мм. Червь прогрыз (перпендикулярно страницам) от первой страницы первого тома до последней страницы второго тома. Какой путь он прогрыз? [Эта топологическая задача с невероятным ответом –– 4 мм –– совершенно недоступна академикам, но некоторые дошкольники легко справляются с ней.]

English translation:

  1. Two volumes of Pushkin, the first and the second, are side-by-side on a bookshelf. The pages of each volume are 2 cm thick, and the cover – front and back each – is 2 mm. A bookworm has gnawed through (perpendicular to the pages) from the first page of volume 1 to the last page of volume 2. How long is the bookworm’s track? [This topological problem with an incredible answer – 4 mm – is absolutely impossible for academicians, but some preschoolers handle it with ease.]
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