As with many of the problems popularized by Marilyn Vos Savant, the problem
is not "from" her. As far as I know, the problem first appeared in a book
by Graham, titled (I think) "50 Challenging Mathematical Problems with
Solutions", available through Dover. Published about 1958, I believe.
The book is a treasure-trove of off-beat mathematical problems not easily
approachable by standard methods.
One solution propounded by Graham (passed along from some other source) was to
take advantage of the fact that _if_ the diameter of the drilled hole is
immaterial to the solution, we might as well take it to be zero, in which case
calculation of the remaining volume is trivial. That's cheating, isn't it?
:-)}
RWW Taylor
National Technical Institute for the Deaf
Rochester Institute of Technology
Rochester NY 14623
>>>> The plural of mongoose begins with p. <<<<
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