Four Ladies and a Young Man in a Vacuum: Unconventional Problems about Everything in the World

The remarkable chemist and science popularizer Ilya Leenson was the author not only of numerous books but also of unique problems, most of which he invented for the Moscow Intellectual Marathon and Summer Linguistic Schools. Now they are compiled into one collection, and readers have the opportunity to familiarize themselves with these clever and unconventional problems from various fields of knowledge — from astronomy to chemistry, from Russian poetry to Scandinavian mythology, from cryptography to numismatics. Sometimes, solving them requires only ingenuity and common sense, but often, erudition or short mathematical deductions are needed. The answers, in fact, represent fascinating popular science notes that refute the stereotype of the strict division of sciences into humanities and natural sciences. The book will be interesting to both schoolchildren and anyone who wants to test their intellect and broaden their horizons.