-Children who listen to chess stories

Euler (1707 ~ 1783), a Swiss mathematician. Smart and active since childhood, interested in everything, and later interested in mathematics.

There is a city in northern Switzerland called Basel, with fertile land and pleasant scenery. There lived a priest named Paul Euler in the city. He loves mathematics. In his study, except theology books, almost all are math books.

1707, Paul Euler's son was born. He was so excited that he knelt on the ground and kept praying. He found the name of Italian mathematician Leonard from the math books collected at home, so he decided to name his baby Leonard Euler.

Little Euler was smart and active since childhood and was interested in everything. He has the innocence of a child, likes beautiful scenery, likes playing with friends and listening to interesting stories told by his father.

One day, just after his father came home, little Euler pulled his father's black robe and wanted to hear a story.

"My baby, how about telling a story about chess today?" Dad asked.

"Very good." Euler eagerly replied.

"Once upon a time, there was a king in India named Shehan. His minister invented chess. One day, the king and his minister played chess. He thought playing chess was fun and decided to reward the minister, but the minister asked the king to put 1 grain of wheat in the first box, 2 grains in the second box, 4 grains in the third box, and so on. If the board is full, he will be very satisfied. " Dad preached with a smile.

"As a result, the king smiled. So, I did as he said. Wheat arrived in bags. I didn't expect the wheat in the warehouse to be moved out before the checkerboard was half used. "

Small euler zheng big eyes, looked at his father with ecstasy. After a long time, he asked, "How is this possible?"

Dad stroked the child's head and said, "honey, you still don't understand." This is a power series in mathematics. If the chessboard is filled with wheat grains, the total amount of wheat will be 65,438+0,800 billion tons. "

Ou stretched out his tongue and asked, "How much is180 billion tons? I don't understand. "

Dad said, "Let's just say that if the annual output of wheat in India was 6,543,800 tons, it would take 6,543,800 years to produce so much wheat."

"ah! So much! " Little Euler finally understood.

Little Euler asked again, "Dad, what about the king?"

"Later, the king hired a mathematician to calculate, only to know that he could not fulfill his promise. He claimed that the minister had cheated him and ordered the minister to be killed.

"This king is too bad!" Since then, a seed that loves mathematics has taken root in little Euler's heart.

In a blink of an eye, little Euler has reached the age of going to school, and his father sent him to the Basel Art School. There are few math classes in school, which can be said to be very anxious for little Euler who loves math. Every time he goes home, he goes into his father's study to find some math books to read.

Once, little Euler got a copy of Algebra by German mathematician Rudolph, and he sat on the floor and read it carefully.

Little Euler read and thought, and soon understood all the first few pages. He was so happy that he immediately tried to do some exercises in the back.

When dad came back, little Euler showed him the questions he had done, and dad nodded while watching.

Dad's positive attitude inspired little Euler's enthusiasm for learning, and he brought algebra back to school. Whenever he is free, he reads this book. Mark the problems when you meet them, ask the teacher at school or go home and ask dad. He has learned more and more, and some questions even adults can't answer.

By chance, Euler knew that there was a knowledgeable mathematician named John Burckhardt.

On Sunday, he took the book early in the morning and finally found Burckhardt according to the address he was told. Euler politely explained his purpose. Burckhardt looked at Euler holding algebra and asked in surprise, "Can you understand this book?"

Euler nodded, then shook his head and said, "Well, I can understand some."

Euler opened the book and pointed to an algebra problem for Euler to solve.

Looked at it, picked up a pen and quickly wrote on the paper. After a while, the answer was worked out.

Burckhardt shook Euler's hand and said, "Genius! What a genius! "

So, he patiently answered every question of little Euler, and also quoted a lot of algebraic knowledge. Euler admired Burckhardt, because he felt that Burckhardt's knowledge of mathematics was too rich, and his own problems were just a piece of cake for him.

From then on, Euler often came to consult Burckhardt. A few years later, Euler not only learned algebra, but also learned other math books recommended by Burckhardt.

1in the autumn of 720, Leonard Euler, who was only 13 years old, was admitted to the famous university of basel with excellent results. From then on, I began to devote myself to the study of mathematics.