Russian physicist, Igor Tamm won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1958.
During the Russian revolution, he was a professor at the University of
Odessa in Ukraine. During that time, there was hunger in the cities but
not in the food-producing villages, and the peasants hoarded and hidfood. One way to get some bread and butter, or maybe a chicken, was to
walk to a village not too far from [Odessa], carrying along some silk
handkerchiefs, a few pieces of family silver, or even a golden watch, and
to exchange these for food. Many enterprising city inhabitants did this,
even though it was a dangerous undertaking.
Once when Igor Tamm arrived in a neighbouring village, at the
period when Odessa was occupied by the Reds, and was negotiating
with a villager as to how many chickens he could get for half a dozen
silver spoons, the village was captured by one of the Makhno bands,
who were roaming the country, harassing the Reds. Seeing his city
clothes, the capturers brought him to the Ataman, a bearded fellow in a
tall black fur hat with machine-gun cartridge ribbons crossed on his
broad chest and a couple of hand grenades hanging on the belt.“You agitator, undermining our Mo ther Ukraine! The punishment is
death.”
“But no,” answered Tamm, “I am a professor at the University of
Odessa and have come here only to get some food.”
“Rubbish!” retorted the leader. “What kind of professor are you?”
“I teach mathematics.”
“Mathematics?” said the Ataman. “All right! Then give me an estimate
of the error one makes by cutting off Maclaurin’s series at the nth term.
Do this, and you will go free. Fail, and you will be shot!”
Tamm could not believe his ears, since this problem belongs to a rather
special branch of higher mathematics. With a shaking hand, and under
the muzzle of the gun, he managed to work out the solution and handed
it to the Ataman.
“Correct!” said the Ataman. “Now I see that you really are a professor.
Go home!”1. What was the problem that the captors asked the professorto
solve?
2. What was the punishment that the captors threatened the
Professor with?
3. Why did the professor go to the neighbouring village?
4. Why were the Makhno bands roaming about in the village of
Odessa?
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Answer:
sorry I can't because it's too big
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