Book Description

A companion to How Puzzling, this is another attractively designed collection of puzzles, secrets to unravel, mysteries and investigational activities with the theme of the maze as its starting point. Drawing on ancient myths and fables, art, architecture and poetry and accurate reconstructions of existing historical mazes around the world, this book's diversity of sources stimulates the reader to enter the tantalizing world of illusion and beguilement that lies at the heart of the maze. ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (12)

Stickels' Are You as Smart as You Think
Stickels and Gardner are among the top popularizers of mathematics and science (see my and other readers' book reviews of Gardner's books, including his early 1980 books). This takes the highest type of Creative Genius, because translating from quantitative to qualitative or verbal language requires mastery of both and of the underlying concepts, and developing puzzles and problems for the public requires inventiveness and creativity beyond translating. Here I want to emphasize that Stickels' and Gardner's methods can lead to enormous improvement in student learning of mathematics and science and even in research in these fields, especially in topics that have not yet been analyzed. For example, my work in Logic-Based Probability (LBP) asks the simple question: what happens if you replace division by subtraction and add 1 in all equations of probability and statistics? The answer is that you get LBP, which is very important for analyzing very rare events and the influences of events. If it gets this simple, we could have a whole nation of inventors trying out different operations and different changes in assumptions. Einstein's general relativity came about largely because some mathematicians asked: what happens if things that look parallel (like tracks running in the same direction) eventually come together? This created Non-Euclidean Geometry.

How does he do it?
My whole family looks forward to Terry Stickel's puzzles and frame games each Sunday in USA Weekend. So when we read that he just published another book -- we picked one up that day. These puzzles are the most original and fun and challenging ever.....thanks, Terry Stickels....keep them coming!

Simply the Best
Terry Stickels is THE reason that I became a puzzle/brain teaser enthusiast years ago. I have run my own e-puzzle business since 1997, and much of the material I've written has been inspired by Terry's writings. This book is simply his best (so far). I must warn you that after trying some of the problems, you may not only have trouble putting the book down, but may in fact find that you have a new addiction... enjoy!

A Great Mind Challenge
I like to regularly challenge my thinking and my mind. "Are You as Smart as You Think You Are?" certainly provided that challenge. The puzzles really made me think and I kept coming back to many of them several times, before checking the answer key. Mr. Stickles provides hours of brain stretching entertainment. Keep it up. I'll look forward to your next book.

THE BEST OF THE BEST
I've been collecting puzzle books for a long time and I've never come across a more original, challenging and fun book yet. There is a little something for eveyone in this wonderful collection. There are also some of the toughest puzzles ever created. Mr. Stickels continues to delight his fans, from his nationally syndicated FRAMEGAMES column in USA WEEKEND, to these first class puzzle books to his excellent day to day calendar . . . he's America's best. I think some of the other reviewers missed the point of what Mr. Stickels writes: straight ahead thinking puzzles with little or no text. That's his style and always has been. One of the reasons I enjoy his challengers so much is he doesn't try to get cute. ... Read more

Book Description

Every day our numerical skills are tested in different ways, from shopping to budgeting and bill paying. But not everyone is comfortable with numbers. The Complete Book of Fun Maths is designed to build up confidence with maths through a series of progressively more challenging tests and puzzles. There is a hints section in case you get stuck and a complete set of answers at the back of the book so you can check how you are doing.

The Complete Book of Fun Maths starts with a gentle workout in an introductory ‘limbering-up session’, and then builds into a comprehensive programme via a range of puzzles and tests on ‘lateral thinking’, ‘fun with numbers’, ‘logic puzzles’, ‘geometric puzzles’ and ‘numerical IQ tests’, among others. Soon you will be handling all kinds of maths puzzles with complete confidence!

Use this and other books in The IQ Workout Series as a fun and informative way of testing, assessing and expanding your brainpower. These books are suitable for anyone from 18 to 80 who wants to put themselves to the test. Ken Russell and Philip Carter have written over 100 books on all aspects of testing, puzzles and crosswords. ... Read more

Book Description

Can you cut an octagon into five pieces and rearrange them into a square?How about turning a star into a pentagon? These are just two of the infinite challenges of geometric dissections, the mathematical art of cutting figures into pieces that can be rearranged to form other figures, using as few pieces as possible. Through the ages, geometric dissections have fascinated puzzle fans and great mathematicians alike. Here are dissections known to Plato and exciting new discoveries alike. Greg Frederickson explains solution methods carefully, assuming only a basic knowledge of high school geometry. This beautifully illustrated book provides hours of enjoyment for every mathematical puzzle enthusiast. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Slicing and splicing for enjoyment
Dissections are one area of mathematics where theory usually plays a secondary role to intuition.While the discovery of a solution may take an enormous amount of trial and effort, understanding it is generally a simpleverification. For these reasons, dissections can aptly be described as anarea of popular mathematics. The puzzles of Sam Loyd were extremelypopular, with one even described as having been a national craze in theUnited States, and some of his most diabolical were dissections. HisEnglish counterpart and rival was Henry Dudeney, whose collected works ofpuzzles also contains many dissections.
As befits the development ofabstract geometry centuries ago, the art of dissection goes all the wayback to the age of Plato. Starting with a geometric shape and cutting itinto pieces that can be rearranged to form another shape is something thatclearly is more of a hobby than a career, although it is possible that itmay have some applications in space filling.
Art and hobbies aside,this is a fun book to explore. Since the subject matter is the slicing andsplicing of geometric figures, most of the results are presented asdiagrams, making the solutions easy to understand. One thought constantlyleapt to mind when I was examining some of the diagrams,"How did theythink of doing that?" Obvious only after the fact, many dissections arehardly something that would easily leap to mind.Additional puzzles areinterspersed throughout the text and solutions to all are included at theend of the book.
The public loves puzzles, as the popularity of somegame shows and regular puzzle columns in newspapers and magazinesdemonstrates. In this book, you will find some of the most challenging ofdissection type puzzles, sure to keep you interested from the opening sliceto the final splice.

Published in Journal of RecreationalMathematics, reprinted with permission. ... Read more

Book Description

This book consists of most of the material from How Puzzling, How Amazing and How Many? by the same authors. It contains fascinating information about numbers and mazes, both historical and modern, with a large number of puzzles, problems and investigational activities. There are solutions and hints to some of the problems at the end of the book. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

great book of puzzles
Martin Gardner comes through again with a great book of puzzles. There is a lot of material here to keep you thinking for quite a while. One of the better book of puzzles I have seen. ... Read more

Book Description

Join the ranks of the geniuses, and leave behind the merely brilliant! Try to figure out 20 tough types of puzzles like the ones found at international puzzle competitions. These are puzzles that require no verbal skills to solve; you just need your logical brain. How hard can they be? Simple arithmetic and a sharp pencil (with a full eraser) are all you need, plus paying close, close attention. Start by following twisting paths made by worms crawling across triangular grids. Then forecast weather patterns by detecting rain cloud patterns in a numbered diagram. Find lost fleets of ships in grids where only a few different shapes are visible. Rearrange dominoes according to a diagram (problem is, the edges of the tiles have been removed). More fun awaits you with hex loops, skyscrapers, lighthouses, and other suddenly fiendish objects.
... Read more

Reviews (5)

Excellent logic puzzles
I had a great time completing these puzzles. There are twenty different types of puzzles in this book. Some of the puzzles were old favorites - Battleship, Dominoes and Number Place, but most of them were new to me. This was a welcome change from the same old puzzles I had been doing for years.

Some of the puzzles can be found in Games Magazine or Dell's Math and Logic Problems magazine. If you like those magazines, but crave a little more variety, then you'll love this book. Unlike those magazines, there are no word problems in this book. In fact, none of the puzzles required any reading at all. No real math is required either. They all used some type of square grid format that is appealing to mathematical and logical minds.

This is a really high quality puzzle book, with great puzzles, good quality paper (you can erase puzzles and redo them later), and spiral binding. You get a lot of puzzles for your money. I wish the authors would create a second edition! The other Mensa books just don't compare. If you like this book, you'll probably also like Mind Sharpening Pixel Puzzles and Perplexing Pixel Puzzles.

Very satisfying puzzles
When I finished the last puzzle in this book, I felt quite proud of my skills in the puzzles I'd solved through logic only, and proud of my perseverance in the puzzles I couldn't get through logic and had to guess on. In some cases, like in Black And White and Dominoes, I was able to discover a certain technique in the first few of the set that I could apply to the rest. In this respect, I think the book made me better at logic puzzles.

If anyone can get through every puzzle in this book without having to guess, that person is truly a super-genius. It seems to me like the authors' main goal was to include just enough clues so that the solution would be unique. This is admirable in a way, as picking the right clues to include seems like quite a formidable task, and the authors have done it well. Lighthouses #10 is the only puzzle with more than one solution (one ship can be placed in either of two locations), and only a couple others seemed to have extraneous clues. However, this minimal clue-giving makes a logical breakthrough that much harder.

That said, this is a great book to keep a puzzle solver occupied. Enjoy it!

Challenging, creative variety of puzzles
I'm not even a big fan of math and logic puzzles, but there was enough variety in here that I was entertained for a long time. And it won me over to a number of puzzle types that I wouldn't have guessed I'd have liked.

The puzzles are very well-made -- trial and error plays little role in most of the solving, and you won't find unintended solutions.

Misleading but...
The puzzles included in this book contain require no math and only a little logic. A more appropriate title would be "Guessing Puzzles" because solving them requires a lot of luck.

Other than the misleading title and content, I found that the puzzles themselves lacked true variety; they all require the same basic skills. The only true difference between them is the format.

I have seen better books of this nature. The puzzles from the World Puzzle Championships, by Will Shortz, although not my cup of tea, are authentic, and require a wider spectrum of skills.

In addition, for those looking for actual mathematical puzzles, consider anything by Martin Gardner or H.E. Dudeney.

With all of this said, the only reason I give this book a passing grade is for its reasonable price and large volume of puzzles. If you enjoy "lateral logic" and possibility, then you may get more from the book than myself.

Start Solving!
Whenever I see a new puzzle book printed under the Mensa name, I usually stay clear. Those multiple-choice IQ tests just aren't my thing. But this book is a welcome exception. For those of you who are fans of math and logic puzzles, I cannot imagine a better or more economical choice of books.

The puzzles are similar in style to those found in Games magazine, Japan's Puzzler magazine, and the World Puzzle Championships. These are not the same, tired puzzles that make their way into dozens of puzzle books and Dell publications. These are highly original, brain-busting fun! ... Read more

Book Description

Splendid collection of 99 puzzles, all built around the chessboard. Arithmetical and probability problems, chessboard recreations, geometrical puzzles, mathematical amusements and games, more. Many standard problems with new, interesting twists. You don’t need to be a chess player, just know the rules of the game. Solutions.
... Read more

Reviews (5)

Great Pass Time Book, but a Bit Bugged
This is an excellent book for people interested in solving all sorts of challenging problems. Being a good chess player helps just as much as being good at math, but you will need something more to break the multiple challenges - an inner drive. This book won't help you play chess any better, or be better at math, but it will provide you with an entertaining and brain challenging pass time. Great for sharing some of the learnings with friends, or for setting up parallel contests to see who solves the problems quicker, for individuals or teams.

Unfortunately, the book has bugs here and there. Bugs can be in the solutions, i.e., typos in solutions. Example of this is problem 6.12 with some rook moves mistakenly shown as bishop moves in the solution. Also bugs can be in a poor translation of a word problem into English, to the point where it is totally impossible to understand the intent. Example the fantastic "Where is the King?" problem 4.15, totally spoiled based on the wording of what the king does when he reaches the castle "turns counterclockwise around the castle at the right angle" and bishop (similar wording). Maybe in the native language that wording had an exact meaning, but in English it is totally meaningless. In fact, it is plain wrong, because the intent is for the king to turn 90 degrees to his right, when in fact it seems the turn is 90 degrees to his left. The point is that this is an elegant geometry and math problem that should not be spoiled by inaccurate or misleading wording, i.e., the challenge should not be in guessing at the intent of the wording but at solving the math problem with correct reliable information.

Overall a fantastic book that can provide hours and hours of entertainment, well worth its inexpensive cost!!! However, I challenge the author to clean up the bugs for the next edition. He owes it to the folks that are willing to spend valuable time working the problems!!!

If you have time and love puzzles, this is it.
I read some and solved some problems, it's really enjoyable.
If I have time in the future, I will try to do some programming to solve the problems, although I know they're all solved by others already. It doesn't matter, the important thing is: you'll have fun!

not what I expected
This is an interesting book, with some good problems to solve, but I was expecting a book that would relate math to chess, instead this is a book that uses the chess board and the game of chess to solve mathematical problems, this book does nothing to help with understanding chess or improving your game.

Excelent book on problem solving related to chess and maths
If your work is related to computer science or applied mathematics, and you like problem solving, you will certainly like this book. If you are interested in chess and chess-related problems (orthodox and unorthodox chess problems, retrograde analysis, chess pieces tours, placement of chess pieces etc.) - you will find it here, too.

Being the person who fits both descriptions, I extremely enjoyed solving the problems this book has offered. As far as I know, only a few books combining both mathematics and chess were written in English up to now so that this book is a real attraction and refreshment. Apart from the well known problems (knight's circle, the non-attacking (super)queen problem, Shinkman's zigzag puzzles), a lot of challenging, amusing and delightful puzzles and tasks are included. Problems were chosen very carefully, some of them are easy to solve, others are extremely hard but, fortunately, the author gave the complete solutions for all presented problems. In my opinion, the volume of book of puzzles could be even larger to include another interesting math-chess puzzles, or to present some themes more extensively. Reading this book and solving some of attractive puzzles, I have really enjoyed all the time. In particular, I was impressed by miraculous author's solution of the famous problem about American presidential candidates and the method of planar graphs for solving some switching problems. Added computer programs for solving some problems gives a modern form to the book.

This book offers a too much entertainment for a wide circle of readers who like mathematics and chess.

Many hours of happy puzzling if you like chess and maths.
This book has six sections, looking at chess and (i) arithmetic and probability (ii)diversions (moving around a board and placement problems (iii) tours (especially knight's) (iv) geometric puzzles (v) amusements and games (vi) miscellaneous. I am enjoying reading this book, because of the number of puzzles, and the variety of puzzles. This book doesn't look at "classical" chess puzzles ("White to move and mate in 2.") Instead, it focusses on more esoteric material. For example, at the moment I am attempting to place 16 pawns on a chessboard so that no three are in a straight line. I can do this easily for rows and columns and the diagonals - but I suspect I also have to eliminate lines formed by two successive knight's jumps. Ouch. Maybe I'll write a small computer program to help me. If you are familiar with the works of Martin Gardner, Sam Lloyd, Henry E Dudney or (the regrograde problems of) Raymod Smullyan, then you will find similar puzzles. But "Mathematics and Chess" provides not two or three puzzles, but 110. Note I said "I am enjoying reading" this book. If I can avoid looking up the answers, I suspect that I will still be reading and puzzling in ten year's time. Not many books can provide that much entertainment. A classical compilation of slightly-different chess problems. ... Read more

Book Description

Whether you realize it or not, numbers are everywhere--and integral to almost every facet of your life . . . from your next raise in pay to the inevitable rise of inflation, your weekly family budget to your end of the national debt. And as George Shaffner amazingly reveals, there are discerning answers (and a great measure of comfort) in numbers. In The Arithmetic of Life, he applies the basic principles of mathematics--addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division--to some of the most profound and just plain puzzling questions of our time.

Illuminated with anecdotes, humor, and insight, each chapter explains a unique part of life that can be understood only through the magic of numbers. Whether it's an unconventional theory on why more things go wrong than right, a simple calculation of how much it will cost you to smoke for a lifetime, why crime (accumulatively) doesn't pay, or a glimpse into the probability of life after death, this enlightening and lucidly reasoned book will forever change the way you think about numbers--and the world around you. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Answers Questions At the Rim of Your Thinking.
This excellent book answers several questions that I have always wondered about - but never knew how to approach them. It also provideds support for issues I feel strongly about but did not understand why. It clarifies why some counter intuitive actions may be so effective. Finally it provides support to those of us working with young adults on how and why to take the proper long term actions. He hints at why rapidly finishing high school and college will provide much more income over the long run.

Math is really only a small building block in this book. No advanced math is required, just addition and averaging. The math is a tool - a simple effective one at that- and nothing more. The main focus is providing solutions to issues one feels strongly about but does not have a clue on how to attack them.

This book has also reminded me of a few ways I better improve myself. I stick to the speed limit and no longer tailgate!!!!!

I just wish Mr. Shaffner would write another book!!!!!

Interesting applications of math and statistics
While books on arithmetic certainly aren't for everyone, I found this one to be interesting, and at times fascinating. My favorite chapter, and one that I plan to use at my daughter's school is on how 8th graders can get a job that pays $45/hour. "What kind of job is that," I'm sure you ask... The answer, of course, is "Stay in School". Since high school graduates on average make significantly more than dropouts, you can assign that difference an hourly rate for the hours that remain till graduation day. Sometimes interesting, sometimes fascinating, sometimes a bit of a stretch, but for an engineer, math fan, statistician, etc., definitely worth the buy. ... Read more

Book Description

Second collection of amusing, thought-provoking problems and puzzles from the Cyclopedia. Arithmetic, algebra, speed and distance problems, game theory, counter and sliding block problems, similar topics. 166 problems. 150 original drawings, diagrams.
... Read more

Reviews (1)

How come?
How come that this book is still unrated.

Sam Loyd, in my idea was(is still) the best puzzle creator. I really can't imagine his creativity, thousands of good puzzles of different types. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A collection of papers that honor the work of Martin Gardner
The late Paul Erdos was widely known as a disseminator of mathematics, and yet his impact on the progress of mathematics may not match that of Martin Gardner. For twenty-five years, he wrote a regular column on "Mathematical Games" for Scientific American and other articles have appeared in many other venues since his "retirement" from SA in 1982. Personally, it is a very rare occasion when I encounter an American mathematician who was not strongly influenced by reading something by Gardner. Many, like myself, read it religiously, considering it the high point of each issue. It is hard to underestimate the number of people who were steered towards a career in mathematics by Gardner or had their interest increased by reading one or more of his papers.
In 1993, the first gathering for Gardner (G4G1) was held in Atlanta, where he was honored for all of his work in making mathematics interesting and entertaining. As befits a gathering of this type, many people wrote papers in the areas of magic, puzzles and mathematics to be presented at the conference. Those papers, plus a few that didn't make it into the official list, have been gathered together to make this book.
The papers are split into three categories: Personal Magic, Puzzlers and Mathemagics. While none were authored by the master, they all clearly bear his stylistic signature. The presentation is clear, entertaining and all reach the point quickly and effectively. I was so intrigued by them that it was the only thing that I read once I obtained a copy, to the detriment of the quality of a lecture on the programming language Java.
This is the highest tribute that any professional writer can achieve, when others are motivated to write material similar to yours to be collected and presented at a conference in your honor. Gardner deserves that and more and every paper in this collection is comparable to his work in quality.

Published in Journal of Recreational Mathematics, reprinted with permission. ... Read more

Book Description

Stimulating treasury of entertaining tricks, stunts and magical effects based on such mathematical principles and ideas as magic squares, the Fibonacci Series, Moebius strips, cycloids, topology and more. Only simple props required: playing cards, matches, coins, etc. No magic or mathematical skills needed.
... Read more

Reviews (1)

A fun. fun book for all ages whether you just read or do it!
You'll never tire of thumbing through this book from time to time and trying some of the author's "magic" on yourself and/or your friends. It's the kind of book you'd buy as a gift for your child or grand-child--after you've read it for yourself first, of course! It's a "keepsake" sort of volume that will never grow tiresome. ... Read more

Book Description

Suppose you have a cloth bag with one marble insideeither black or white, you don't know which. You add a white marble, shake the bag, and take a marble at random. It's white. What are the odds that the remaining marble is white? Obviously 1/2, right? Wrong. The correct answer is 2/3.

This is just one of the scores of intriguing puzzles and paradoxes in this fascinating book. Lewis Carroll's diverse interests ranged from inventing new games like arithmetical croquet to important problems in symbolic logic and propositional calculus. He was famous for his puns, anagrams, acrostics, and riddles and is believed to be the author of a poem that reads the same vertically as horizontally. Some of his word puzzles remain unsolved to this day. His mathematical humor included instructions for folding a handkerchief into a variant of the Klein bottle, as well as proof that if a bag contains two marbles that must be either black or white, there will always be one black and one white.

Just as Carroll was the preeminent recreational mathematician of his time (perhaps of all time), Martin Gardner is the preeminant writer on recreational mathematics of our time. He is the ideal guide for this fun and informative tour of Carroll's inventions. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Essential for Lewis Carroll fans
Lewis Carroll was in "real life" Charles Dodgson, lecturer in mathematics at Oxford University and author of books on geometry and logic. Mathematics intrudes into his children's books, especially Sylvie and Bruno. There is nobody better qualified to explain this side of Lewis Carroll to the non-mathematician than Martin Gardner, author of the Annotated Alice and for many years the compiler of the Mathematical Puzzles column in Scientific American. This book will delight Carroll's many fans and may intrigue many who would not normally be attracted to children's fiction. I also recommend the two books on Lewis Carroll's puzzles by Edward Wakeling; as a professional mathematician, he brings a complementary perspective. ... Read more

Book Description

The Mathematical Olympiad examinations, covering the USA Mathematical Olympiad (USAMO) and the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO), have been published annually by the MAA American Mathematics Competitions since 1976.

The IMO is the world mathematics championship for high school students. It takes place annually in a different country. The IMO competitions help to discover, encourage and challenge mathematically gifted young people all over the world.

The USAMO and the Team Selection Test (TST) are the last two stages of the selection process leading to representing the United States of America in the IMO. The preceding examinations are the AMC 10 or AMC 12 and the American Invitational Mathematics Examination (AIME). Participation in the AIME, USAMO, and the TST is by invitation only, based on performance in the preceding exams of the sequence.

Through the AMC contests and the IMO, young gifted mathematicians are identified and recognized while they are still in secondary school. Participation in these competitions provides them with the chance to measure themselves against other exceptional students from all over the world.

Editors, Andreescu and Feng provide remarkable solutions developed by the examinationcommittees, contestants, and experts, during or after the contests.They also provide a detailed report of the 1995-2000 USAMO/IMO results,and a comprehensive guide to other materials emphasizing advancedproblem-solving. This collection of excellent problems and beautiful solutions is a valuable companion for students who wish to developtheir interest in mathematics outside the school curriculum and todeepen their knowledge ofmathematics. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Some of the best problems ever created
Problems that are used in the mathematical Olympiads are a very select set. They must of course be challenging, but not too challenging. Since they are to be taken by high school students, most areas of mathematics are off-limits, severely restricting the range of solution techniques. Subtleties can be used in the problem, but only to a well-established point. I enjoy reading them, because these restrictions make the writing of such problems an art form.
This collection contains the six problems used in the 2001 United States of America Mathematical Olympiad (USAMO), the nine problems used in the 2001 International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) American team selection test and the six problems used in the 2001 IMO. It is designed as study material for those preparing for possible competition in future Olympiads.
The problems themselves take up only the first seven pages of the book. Hints to the solutions take up the next four pages and formal solutions the remaining eighty-eight pages. Problem credits, a glossary of key theorems and previous Olympiad results complete the book. Reading these problems is an exercise that all mathematicians should engage in. They are some of the best ever written, sometimes knowing that the solutions require only "simple" mathematics makes them all the more difficult to find. I often think of potential solution strategies, only to reject them as using techniques officially out of bounds. I encourage everyone to take a look at these problems.

Published in the recreational mathematics e-mail newsletter, reprinted with permission. ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (1)

Just how difficult can it get?
I just picked up Terry Stickles latest publication and
he delivers again. This book is a continuation of his
previous book: Are you as smart... This book contains
201 puzzles ranging from math to logic to his famous
Frame Games. The puzzles are not really hard, but at the same
time, not easy. You will spend some time on each puzzle.
You will not need a calculator or dictionary, just common
sense and a strong thinking cap. I recommend this book;
you will not be disappointed. ... Read more

Book Description

This journey across the spectrum of human activities takes a creative look at the role mathematics has played since prehistoric times. From its many uses in medicine and its appearance in artwork to its patterns in nature and its central role in the development of computers, mathematics is presented in a fun-to-read, nonthreatening manner. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Please remove second review
Dear Amazon Staff.

A recent review for this book was obviously written by someone who is unfamiliar with geometry and trigonometry. The pythagorian theoren states that the relationship between the two sides and the hypotenuse of a right triangle is A^2 = B^2 + C^2 since sin and cosine are defined to be the two sides of a right triangle whose hypotenuse is 1, the theorem which you reviewer claims to be false is in fact true. It is always the case that 1 = sin^2 w + cos^2 w regardless of the value of w. I am writing to you because the majority of people rating your more recent customer review of this book are rating his review as being useful. This is really unfortunate.

I am considering using this book for a course. I will write a
review for it if we use it.

Barbara Nostrand, Ph.D. (Mathematics - Northeastern University)
Assistant Professor of Computer Science
SUNY College at Potsdam
Potsdam, New York 13676

disappointing.
Thumbed through this book in the store... Loved the idea, and the selection of topics - architecture, natural phenomena, etc. - really wanted to buy it. Ran across some typos... some missing information... and ultimately just plain bogus "mathematics": sin^2 + cos^2 =1. Well, sin and cos of what? As written, it's nonsense... there's nonsense all around us too, but I wouldn't want to read a book about it. Wondered why the publisher did not employ an editor... put it back on the shelf.

Lively, engaging, informative history of math and its uses.
What role has math played since prehistoric times? This considers math's many uses in medicine and art, its role in the development of computers and information systems, and its systematic importance to daily living. From the math involved in weather forecasting to math in art, this is packed with important details presented in a lively manner. ... Read more

Book Description

Book Description

Whether you're a programming genius or a logical wizard, this book of puzzles will challenge you well into the night. In the tradition of Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Ecco is one of the greatest sleuths of our time, a mathematical wizard who uses logic and computer programming to solve crimes, find treasures, and explore space. Invented by Dennis E. Shasha, Dr. Ecco first appeared in 1988 as the brilliant mathematical investigator in The Puzzling Adventures of Dr. Ecco, and more recently as the unstumpable gumshoe in Dr. Dobb's Journal. Dr. Ecco's Cyberpuzzles is the latest work to record the exploits and misadventures of this renowned PI. The puzzles collected here require no formal background beyond arithmetic and elementary algebra—just lively curiosity and keen intelligence. With 36 illustrated cases organized around eight major mathematical themes (from "Combinatorial Geometry and Geography" to "Ciphers and Secrecy"), this book will encourage you to use your mind and your computer in ways you never previously imagined. 50 b/w line drawings. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Interesting puzzles, but who's Dr. Ecco?
Presumably, this collection of mathematical puzzles is for fans of one Dr. Ecco whose life is full of adventures. For people not familiar with the character, the book appears very dull and the characters contrived, uninteresting, and, well, kind of lame. The narration is a little over the top, but all in all, the book is not terribly written.

The puzzles on the other hand are pretty interesting. Ranging from solving codes through organizing buildings in space to transporting monkeys, the puzzles are a nice way of teaching mathematical concepts. As the descriptions of the puzzles and Dr. Ecco's solutions thereof progress, the reader is asked to participate on different levels in solving of the puzzles. Cybernovices and cyberexperts can learn about math in a fun way.

I recommend this book for those interested in solving puzzles of any kind who are not detered by corny storylines. If you are not sure whether you'd like this book, I recommend you flip through it at a book store to make sure.

Ecco strikes again
As a fan of Ecco's Puzzling Adventures, I was eager to take a look at his cyberpuzzles. Ecco and his protege Shasha have done it again, and I recommend this book to anyone looking for interesting, challenging, thoughtful problems.

The book is a fun and intersting read on its own, but I have also drawn on the book's puzzles in teaching (a course on logic and discrete math).

It's very cool to have a book that can entertain and educate at the same time! Looking forward to Ecco's further adventures. ... Read more