Entertaining Mathematical Puzzles

Author: Martin Gardner
Publisher: Courier Corporation
ISBN: 0486252116
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 141

Book Description
Playing with mathematical riddles can be an intriguing and fun-filled pastime — as popular science writer Martin Gardner proves in this entertaining collection. Puzzlists need only an elementary knowledge of math and a will to resist looking up the answer before trying to solve a problem. Written in a light and witty style, Entertaining Mathematical Puzzles is a mixture of old and new riddles, grouped into sections that cover a variety of mathematical topics: money, speed, plane and solid geometry, probability, topology, tricky puzzles, and more. The probability section, for example, points out that everything we do, everything that happens around us, obeys the laws of probability; geometry puzzles test our ability to think pictorially and often, in more than one dimension; while topology, among the "youngest and rowdiest branches of modern geometry," offers a glimpse into a strange dimension where properties remain unchanged, no matter how a figure is twisted, stretched, or compressed. Clear and concise comments at the beginning of each section explain the nature and importance of the math needed to solve each puzzle. A carefully explained solution follows each problem. In many cases, all that is needed to solve a puzzle is the ability to think logically and clearly, to be "on the alert for surprising, off-beat angles...that strange hidden factor that everyone else had overlooked." Fully illustrated, this engaging collection will appeal to parents and children, amateur mathematicians, scientists, and students alike, and may, as the author writes, make the reader "want to study the subject in earnest" and explains "some of the inviting paths that wind away from the problems into lusher areas of the mathematical jungle." 65 black-and-white illustrations.

Entertaining Mathematical Teasers and how to Solve Them

Author: James Alston Hope Hunter
Publisher: Courier Corporation
ISBN: 9780486245003
Category : Games & Activities
Languages : en
Pages : 132

Book Description
160 math teasers and 40 alphametics will provide hours of mind-stretching entertainment. Accessible to high school students. Solutions. Four Appendices.

My Best Mathematical and Logic Puzzles

Author: Martin Gardner
Publisher: Courier Corporation
ISBN: 0486320324
Category : Games & Activities
Languages : en
Pages : 100

Book Description
The noted expert selects 70 of his favorite "short" puzzles, including such mind-bogglers as The Returning Explorer, The Mutilated Chessboard, Scrambled Box Tops, and dozens more involving logic and basic math. Solutions included.

Mathematical Fun, Games and Puzzles

Author: Jack Frohlichstein
Publisher: Courier Corporation
ISBN: 9780486207896
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 340

Book Description
Brush up on your math skills with fun games and puzzles.

Colossal Book of Mathematics

Author: Martin Gardner
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 9780393020236
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 748

Book Description
No amateur or math authority can be without this ultimate compendium of classic puzzles, paradoxes, and puzzles from America's best-loved mathematical expert. 320 line drawings.

Hexaflexagons and Other Mathematical Diversions

Author: Martin Gardner
Publisher: American Mathematical Soc.
ISBN: 1470463520
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 211

Book Description
Martin Gardner's Mathematical Games columns in Scientific American inspired and entertained several generations of mathematicians and scientists. Gardner in his crystal-clear prose illuminated corners of mathematics, especially recreational mathematics, that most people had no idea existed. His playful spirit and inquisitive nature invite the reader into an exploration of beautiful mathematical ideas along with him. These columns were both a revelation and a gift when he wrote them; no one--before Gardner--had written about mathematics like this. They continue to be a marvel. This volume, originally published in 1959, contains the first sixteen columns published in the magazine from 1956-1958. They were reviewed and briefly updated by Gardner for this 1988 edition.

Mathematical Puzzle Tales

Author: Martin Gardner
Publisher: American Mathematical Soc.
ISBN: 1470451786
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 170

Book Description
Martin Gardner is widely known for his writing on recreational mathematics, not least for the myriad problems he has devised over some 25 years for Scientific American. In this book are 36 of his best brainteasers. These are not simply cunning puzzles, but serve to illustrate the art of the mathematician as problem solver, and their solution draws on ideas from topology, probability, number theory, logic and beyond. Fully worked answers are given, which, in turn, lead to additional problems for the reader. For anybody who likes to solve mathematical problems, this book will be both entertaining and a challenge.

Mathematical Puzzles

Author: Peter Winkler
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 0429557973
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 403

Book Description
Research in mathematics is much more than solving puzzles, but most people will agree that solving puzzles is not just fun: it helps focus the mind and increases one's armory of techniques for doing mathematics. Mathematical Puzzles makes this connection explicit by isolating important mathematical methods, then using them to solve puzzles and prove a theorem. Features A collection of the world’s best mathematical puzzles Each chapter features a technique for solving mathematical puzzles, examples, and finally a genuine theorem of mathematics that features that technique in its proof Puzzles that are entertaining, mystifying, paradoxical, and satisfying; they are not just exercises or contest problems.

Number-Crunching Math Puzzles

Author: Dick Hess
Publisher: Puzzlewright
ISBN: 9781454909743
Category : Games & Activities
Languages : en
Pages : 94

Book Description
Are you sharp enough to solve these devious mind-bogglers? These diverting number, geometric, logic, analytical, and story problems--which vary in difficulty from pleasantly puzzling to chew-your-pencil challenging--will test your smarts. Math conundrum connoisseurs will treasure this collection, and everyone who loves a good puzzle will feel a sense of accomplishment by the end of the book.

Famous Puzzles of Great Mathematicians

Author: Miodrag Petkovi_
Publisher: American Mathematical Soc.
ISBN: 0821848143
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 346

Book Description
This entertaining book presents a collection of 180 famous mathematical puzzles and intriguing elementary problems that great mathematicians have posed, discussed, and/or solved. The selected problems do not require advanced mathematics, making this book accessible to a variety of readers. Mathematical recreations offer a rich playground for both amateur and professional mathematicians. Believing that creative stimuli and aesthetic considerations are closely related, great mathematicians from ancient times to the present have always taken an interest in puzzles and diversions. The goal of this book is to show that famous mathematicians have all communicated brilliant ideas, methodological approaches, and absolute genius in mathematical thoughts by using recreational mathematics as a framework. Concise biographies of many mathematicians mentioned in the text are also included. The majority of the mathematical problems presented in this book originated in number theory, graph theory, optimization, and probability. Others are based on combinatorial and chess problems, while still others are geometrical and arithmetical puzzles. This book is intended to be both entertaining as well as an introduction to various intriguing mathematical topics and ideas. Certainly, many stories and famous puzzles can be very useful to prepare classroom lectures, to inspire and amuse students, and to instill affection for mathematics.