Leo Tolstoy and mathematics

   The article discusses the technology of education in mathematics and literature with the use of modern information technologies (synthesis of scientific and rational forms of knowledge and art, focused on the subjective moment of the world perception). The article presents a fragment of a more general work related to the experience of reading Leo Tolstoy’s fictional works through the use of methods of exact (mathematical) sciences. Leo Tolstoy, as is known, was interested in mathematics. This is evidenced by his biographical data, as well as the literary works of the writer. The article traces the facts of Leo Tolstoy’s use of mathematical material. In addition, of particular interest is the description of horse racing on the Tsarskoye Selo meadow, depicted in the novel “Anna Karenina”. The writer’s statement that the races of horses took place on a circle of “a four–verst elliptical shape” is at odds with traditional mathematical concepts, according to which a circle as a geometric figure is not an ellipse. At the same time, Leo Tolstoy (probably, against his conscious creative will) introduced a new understanding of elliptical forms, which has every right to exist; you cannot call it a gross mistake. We propose assigning the name of Leo Tolstoy to a single closed curve (“a Tolstoy ellipse”) and introducing the concept of the “Tolstoy mathematical proportion”. The authors hope that the name of the new curve will be registered in the “Encyclopedia of Mathematical Curves” as a truly unique case of “an artistic error” that has enriched the field of modern mathematical knowledge.

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