Hi Clive,

It's certainly possible that residual information of value is contained in the problem that is not part of the main exercise.

The problem is operating within a cultural technical system, where repetition and tradition will also have had an impact, so it is possible to consider that the factor 7 or 14 for the radius of the triange is of interest.

Having said that, I am not clear of the original interpretation, there is not detailed explanation for this problem in Gillings, and I don't follow Chace's transcription on the pages that I have detailed in the photograph's of the original publication below, which I obtained earlier in the year. In particular, I don't understand why the scribe has written 6 beside two transverse lines that are clearly not equal in length. I don;t even undestand how to do the problem in modern math to be honest, so any thorough explanation of the mechanics of the problem would be of interest.

At least you have confirmed to me that the problem is about areas, setats, and not lengths!

Best
Dave Light

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