
178 ◾ Computing
An old woman went to a market and was selling eggs from her
basket. A horse stepped on her basket and crushed the eggs. e
rider oered to pay for the damage and asked her, “How many eggs
were there in the basket?” She did not remember the exact number
of eggs, but when she had taken them out two at a time there was
one egg le. e same happened to the remainder when she had
taken them out three, four, ve, and six at a time, but when she had
taken them out seven at a time they came out even. What is the
smallest number of eggs she could have had in her basket?
e same problem is also given in Fibonacci’s Liber Abaci. e ...