Book Description

The exercises in this Math Fun book were designed to instill in the children a good, healthy feeling for math. By teaching the mathematical basis for playing games and doing puzzles, the author anticipates that the children will have a feeling of power and fun as they defeat their elders and playmates.This experience should give them an appreciation for the source of this power; namely, mathematics!Finally, it is his hope that the beauty of mathematics, its logic and symmetry and pattern will become apparent to the students.

Another goal in this book is to teach children a variety of problem-solving techniques, and to try to convince them to be prepared to look at a problem with an open mind, by taking advantage of isomorphism, for example. ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (1)

Fabulous Puzzle Book (I hope this isn't out-of-print)
As an avid collector of puzzle books, I can honestly say that *Hard-to-Solve Math Puzzles* by Derrick Niederman is one of the best puzzle/Mensa-type books I have come across. What is unique about this book is that this book concentrates on clever mathematical puzzles requiring only a high school-level of math knowledge.

Most other puzzle books on the market: mix math questions with other types of puzzles (like word puzzles), require knowledge of math that is way too advanced for most run-of-the-mill puzzle fans (e.g, math olympiad type books or books requiring university-level math), or avoids math altogether. Niederman's book is focused in on math puzzles that are challenging but doable for most puzzle fans.

Another thing that I liked about this book is that the problems are truly challenging (but do not require advanced math knowledge). Niederman's problems usually require more insights and sophistication than comparable problems by other respected puzzle makers.

Finally, this book is endorsed by Mensa, a plus for people who want a seal of approval. ... Read more

Reviews (11)

A Wonderful Book
Now here is a fine weekend escape - a delightful book to be read with one's feet up and an ice cold beverage all the while contemplating the wonders of numbers. Mostly about the integers, there are such mathematical adventures as 2, 3, and 4 dimensional magic squares, numbers so huge they require special notation and easily dwarf the number of atoms in the known universe, fractal number sequences, Mozart numbers, and lots of other fun things in the 125 chapters. My favorite numbers are the Schizophrenic numbers (Chapter 93) which when evaluated to 500 digits reveal patterns of seemingly random digits alternating with chains of repetitions of identical digits. The book is especially entertaining for the connections shown between some of these numbers and music, art, science, and other areas of mathematics.

For additional enjoyment the Further Exploring section offers additional background including references to books and web sites and also some challenges to readers - a few of which even include a cash prize. And, best of all Wonders of Numbers is written in plain English and accompanied by splendid graphics, lively anecdotes, and a generous supply of epigraphs. A fun way to while away a weekend.

A delightful collection of mathematical puzzles
This book contains a delightful collection of mathematical puzzles in the tradition of Martin Gardner. There are Klingon Paths, Hexagonal Cats, Messages from the Stars, and Doughnut Loops. If you liked the puzzles in Pickover's "Alien IQ Test", you will like the puzzles in this book.

The book is not all numbers. There are historical anecdotes and stories about mathematicians told by the author's alter-ego, Dr. Googol. Are all mathematicians insane? The answer not clear. However, the author describes the five strangest. Did you know that Pythagoras believed that it was sinful to eat beans?

There are a number of interesting top ten lists. As one who thinks that the proper role of mathematics is to solve the problems of the physical world, I was happy to note that Dr. Googol chose equations of physics for six of the ten most important mathematical expressions, e.g. Gauss' law and Newton's law of gravitation. Dr. Googol must have some physicist friends.

This is just the latest in a series of wonderful books that Dr. Pickover has written. I also recommend "The Science of Aliens" and "Time: A Traveler's Guide".

Zero Substance
After reading this book (I do not bother reading even a half), many would be thrilled that they now has ten times of stuff about mathematics to talk about on a coffe table, but they should also realize that they know exactly as much mathematics as they had before.

Utterly fascinating, stimulating, and FUN
You don't need to be an advanced mathematician to enjoy and benefit from this book. I think the ideal reader is someone who is interested in numbers and likes to think about things in logical and interesting ways.

While I found this book a lot of fun (even at my age), I think it would be ideal for a high-school student who had developed some facility with numbers and was busy developing their thinking patterns. This book would help them learn to think in new ways and probably give them some new paths to explore.

It isn't just interesting problems, although there are many very interesting things to solve. There are fascinating lists and explanations that can spur continued investigation and even provoke development through disagreement!

The "answers" in the back provide explanations that are also written as a springboard for further investigation.

Good stuff! Four stars only because it is so specialized. But if you like this topic it is a five star book.

a MUST for mathematics lovers
well, don't just expect this book to be a 'problem-solving' guide. it's more than that! it consists of history behind mathematics, comics(sort of) that stimulate readers with all sorts of daily stuff, just beyond your imagination! with my strongest belief, every reader of this book will be stuck to it once they've placed their hands on the cover. ... Read more

Book Description

In this engaging and readable book, Dr. Körner describes a variety of lively topics that continue to intrigue professional mathematicians. The topics range from the design of anchors and the Battle of the Atlantic to the outbreak of cholera in Victorian Soho. The author uses relatively simple terms and ideas, yet explains difficulties and avoids condescension. If you are a mathematician who wants to explain to others how you spend your working days, then seek inspiration here. This book will appeal to everyone interested in the uses of mathematics. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

worthwhile read, with some disfiguring flaws
No question, this is a five star book, it is a nice tutorial overview of applied maths, the high point being a presentation of Turing's analysis of the Enigma cypher at Bletchley, which I had never read before.

I was surprised at some of the things cited (the first chapter on operational research in the first world war is not, shall we say, deep) and some of those that do not get cited, but de gustibus non disputandem est. And I would have to say that in general the contents were surprising in the best way, by being ofbeat, and that is good.

Nevertheless, I have a list of quibbles; here are some:

First, he makes some foolishly dismissive - to be kind - remarks about economics, which reveal only that he does not seem to know a lot about the subject.

Second, he makes some foolish jokes about masters and servants; he glosses his description of Halmos's Naive set theory as a gentlemans guide by explaining that a gentleman should know how to drive, but probably prefers to let his chauffeur do it most of the time. He makes similar remarks about valets and algorithms (an algorithm is something that your valet could perform). One gets the feeling he would have been on the prosecution side at the Chaterley trial.

When I was doing my PhD, I remember one of the other students attempted to cultivate a gentleman's attitude to the computer on which he did his research. This was not as endearing a pose as he thought.

Third, maybe less aristocratic disdain about foundations would have improved the final dialogue about the axiomatic method, where complex technical issues are simply brushed under the rug without mention. Yes, the standard axioms for addition and multiplication, plus induction, do define the natural numbers up to isomorphism, but not in a standard first-order language. Surely such a point is germain to the discussion (or reason to have another discussion instead, if you do not want to confuse a beginner with end extensions and non-standard models).

But a nice book, and I look forward to reading bits of it more carefully sometime soon.

A superb book - well worth reading & re-reading
I came across this book on the 'new acquisitions' shelf of our library. It looked interesting, so I spent a lunch break browsing through a couple of chapters. Come the time to go back to work, and I put my name down on the circulation list.
By the end of the week, I had crossed out my name, leaving the comment: 'I have just bought my own copy'.

This is a great book to dip into on a wet evening. The chapters can stand alone, though many themes recur throughout the book. Each chapter combines a well-written narrative, examples that expand on the underlying mathematics, and numerous sidebars of the highest quality. I particularly liked the one about the extrovert mathematician.

Dr Korner's aim with this book is to lure unsuspecting teenagers into enjoying mathematics. He uses the technique of showing lots of real-world applications, most of which can be readily grasped (and some that are totally gripping). These range from tracing the source of a cholera epidemic, through submarine warfare and Enigma codebreaking, to understanding how the cells that form the walls of blood vessels know when to divide, so as to make the blood vessel just the right size. In most cases the mathematics involved is fairly straightforward: enough to challenge, without intimidating. Some of the mathematical material is developed in the narrative, more in the examples. Just about every page has enough text per equation to ensure readability.

There is a good annotated bibliography, and plenty of references, among which I found many books I had already read and enjoyed. However, the references lack ISBNs. The book - my copy is the paperback - is well laid-out and presented, with a clear typeface and robust binding. It should stand up well to the repeated use it is likely to get.
Buy this book!

a wonderful introduction to the magic of mathematics
If you know a bright teen interested in mathematics or engineering, GIVE THEM THIS BOOK! If you were once a bright teen interested in mathematics and engineering, give yourself this book. This is not an introduction to math. This is an introduction to *using* math to see things you might otherwise miss. Korner is a story-teller (he must be a wonderful lecturer). He covers his subject by telling stories of significant problems and the math that conquered them. The openning chapter tells the story of Dr. Snow's use of statistics to recognize the source of a London cholera epidemic, an epidemic stopped by removing the pump-handle of a London water pump. The subsequent chapters tell the story of operations research in World Wars I and II. In World War I, to counter the threat of German U-boats, was it better to use convoys, or individual ships? Convoys would mean delays --- gathering the ships to start, the convoy could proceed no faster than the slowest ship, and then overload the docks and railroads when they arrived. Which would you choose, and why? Having made your decision, how would you explain it to a math-leery naval officer? Later chapters tell the story of Alan Turing and breaking the enigma codes. This book is challenging, but great fun. ... Read more

Book Description

Recreational math and science topics.Imaginative problems and tips for "mental arithmetic".Intriguing chapters on terrestrial navigation and much ado about lunar and planetary orbits. ... Read more

Book Description

Book Description

Treasury of stimulating, challenging brainteasers includes puzzles involving numbers, letters, probability, reasoning, whole numbers, more. The Enterprising Snail, The Fly and the Bicycles, The Lovesick Cockroaches, Mr. Wright and the Insurance Salesman, many others. No advanced math needed. Solutions included.
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Reviews (2)

A collection of papers written in honor of Martin Gardner
Recreational mathematics is a broad subject, and the definition of what is recreational is open to interpretation. In this book, Klarner made some excellent choices of material to include. The main topics are:

* Games
* Geometry
* Two-Dimensional Tiling
* Three-Dimensional Tiling
* Fun and Problems
* Numbers and Coding Theory

The list of contributors includes some of the biggest names in mathematics. Richard K. Guy in mathematical games, Adi Shamir, Ronald L. Rivest and Leonard M. Adleman in secure messaging; Solomon W. Golomb and Howard Eves in geometry; Ronald Graham, Branko Grunbaum, G. C. Shephard, Raphael Robinson and H. M. S. Coxeter in tiling; Donald Knuth and Ross Honsberger in fun problems and Donald Knuth and Neil Sloane in numbers and coding theory. The level of difficulty is on the higher end of the spectrum, yet most of the papers can be understood if read carefully.
Martin Gardner has earned many accolades. This book demonstrates one of the highest, as it is a consequence of a quiet call for papers for a book to be published in his honor. The fact that so many high caliber mathematicians wrote so many high quality papers is a tribute that very few people could even hope for.

Published in Journal of Recreational Mathematics, reprinted with permission.

A Valuable Addition to the Gardner Canon
First, a small correction. This collection of mathematical essays was assembled as a tribute to Martin Gardner, on the occasion (20 years ago!) of his retirement. This book was not edited by Gardner, but it is in the same spirit (and the same size) as his "Mathematical Games" books of his Scientific American columns, so it does make a nice companion volume.

There are lots of good things in this book, but the best is Doris Schattschneider's essay "In Praise of Amateurs," on the ways of tiling the plane with convex pentagons. Does this sound like an incredibly arcane, useless subject? Well, I suppose it is, but it's also a delicious story, and this volume is the only place where I have seen it told in full. There are 13 essentially different ways to tile the plane with convex pentagons. Many of these beautiful patterns were discovered by Marjorie Rice, a San Diego housewife with only a high school education. Furthermore, she discovered these designs years after it was "proved" that there were only eight ways. If you thought the aperiodic Penrose tiling of the plane was a fascinating discovery, you will want to read this essay, admire these 13 patterns, and ideally find a fourteenth.

This essay alone is worth the price of the book. While the rest of the book is not quite up to its standard, it too is quite worthwhile. There are essays by Scott Kim, Donald E. Knuth, H.S.M. Coxeter, Solomon W. Golomb, and many others, all clearly illustrated. The section on 3-dimensional tiling is also quite cool. ... Read more

Book Description

Book Description

A comprehensive study of the connection game genre, Connection Games provides a survey of known connection games while exploring common themes and strategies. This book aims to impose some structure on this increasingly large family of games, and to define exactly what constitutes a connection game. Key games are examined in detail and complete rules for over 200 connection games and variants are provided.

A connection game is a board game in which players vie to develop or complete a specific type of connection with their pieces. This might involve forming a path between two or more goals, completing a closed loop, or gathering all pieces together into a single connected group. ... Read more