A simple nano find after a three-stage puzzle which will most likely require some research. The final coordinates should take you to a point somewhere around the perimeter of Cowick Barton playing fields in Exeter.
- The first stage is to find the names of the scientists described by the descriptions A to H below. You only need to surname for each one unless otherwise stated. Half of them of pitched at general knowledge level, the other half are trickier and may well take some research, hence the difficulty rating which I think I've pitched at the appropriate level. Make sure you get the spellings correct or you'll go awry at the next stage!
- Calculate the value each of the names using standard UK Scrabble tile values. For example, my name, Carasek, would be worth 13 (3 for the C, 5 for the K and five lots of 1 for the other letters). No double or triple letters involved though! This will give a numerical value for each clue, A through to H.
- Substitute those values into the following formula to find the final co-ordinates:
N: 50º (E+G+H) . (A) (C-B) (E/2)
W: 003º (C+H) . (F/3) (D*3)
The cache itself should not be difficult to find and is accessible at all times. However, the playing fields are used by school children as a route home so it's probably best to avoid the 3 to 4 pm time slot unless you want to be battling the hoardes!
If this proves a popular puzzle I will do some more with different themes and difficulty levels.
The clues:
A) Polish-born physicist and chemist known for pioneering work on radioactivity and the first woman to be awarded a Nobel Prize. (married surname required)
B) English naturalist and geologist, best known for his contributions to evolutionary theory and his book On The Origin Of Species.
C) Greek mathematician and philosopher known for his 'Theorem' which states that the square of the hypotenuse of a right angled triangle is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides.
D) American physicist who invented an electrostatic generator comprising of a moving belt and a hollow metal sphere. The name of that device, albeit misspelt, was used as the name of a Manchester based progressive rock band formed in 1967.
E) Swedish botanist, zoologist and physician who laid the foundations for the 'binomial nomenclature' two-word naming system for species of animals and plants.
F) Russain chemist and inventor who devised an early Periodic Table of chemical elements and used it to predict the properties of eight elements which had not yet been discovered in nature.
G) Dutch scientist considered to be the world's first microbiologist and known for the improvements he made to the design of the microscope (ignore the three letter word in his surname that translates into English as 'of')
H) Scottish botanist, biologist and pharmacologist best known for his accidental discoveries of lysozyme and penicillin.