.

Subj:.....The Moon Problem (S624)           From the book              "Mathematical Puzzles of Sam Loyd"            Edited by Martin Gardner            From: Dover Publications in 1959   If the moon were made of green cheese, into how many pieces could you divide it with five straight cuts of a knife?  "Speaking about the possibility of treating disease through the influence of will power," says a noted specialist, in a recent contribution to a medical journal, "I wish to say that in Switzerland the power of imagination is so strong amoung the wild mountain swine herdsmen that they will eat their sour brown bread with great relish through believing that it is green cheese from the moon!  They actually go through the motions of cutting the moon, and like little children quarrel over imaginary portions." Not being interested in the Christian Science side of the question, I was merely struck by the possibility of an odd puzzle arising from the story.  Therefore, indulging the foolish fancy of these men shown in the sketch, let us suppose that the expert carver of the party is speculating as to the greatest possible number of pieces into which he can divide the moon with five straight cuts of a knife. The wild herdsmen are unfortunately reduced to short rations in having the last quarter of the old moon to feast upon, so they are trying to make the most of it.  Are you clever enough to help them? With a pencil and ruler mark off the pictured moon with five straight lines and see how many pieces you can produce.

.
.
.

.   ...