Elena Lucrezia Cornaro Piscopia, a 17th-century Venetian philosopher and mathematician, was the first woman to obtain a PhD. At this time, Italian society was passionate about debates on philosophy and mathematics, considered inseparable branches of knowledge. Mathematical logic problems are a clear example.

Read the following poem carefully:

A basket of oranges was stolen

by a thief in the market

and he escaped through the orchards.

When jumping a fence,

chased by a dog,

he lost half of them plus half;

Then he tripped on a rope,

and he abandoned half of them plus half

the half plus half of them scattered.

In his lair, he kept two dozen.

You who seek wisdom,

say: how many oranges did the thief steal?

1. Solve the following problem using your knowledge of equations.
2. You can also use logic to solve it.