[(Entertaining Mathematical Puzzles )] [Author: Martin Gardner] [Jul-1987]

by Martin Gardner

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 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.

Genres: Mathematics, Puzzles, Reference, Nonfiction, Science, Ebooks, Games

Paperback

First published October 1, 1986

About the author

Martin Gardner was an American mathematics and science writer specializing in recreational mathematics, but with interests encompassing micromagic, stage magic, literature (especially the writings of Lewis Carroll), philosophy, scientific skepticism, and religion. He wrote the Mathematical Games column in Scientific American from 1956 to 1981, and published over 70 books.

Reviews

[Lost Planet Airman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked it, but then, I am a geek for all things STEM, especially the _M_aths part.
Your mileage may vary.

The game-strategy puzzles left me stumped. After an hour on "The Circle Of Pennies", I gave up and read the answer. Similarly for the next 3 puzzles..

The problems are accessible to young people, except for a few where the basis is the puzzle has been bypassed by modern culture. I'd say the reasoning skills necessary, though, are late middle-school or older

[Deryk Rumbold · Rating 4 out of 5]

I prefer this work of Gardener to his "Best of" collection. It feels more accessible with a writing style that any High School level student should be able to understand even with it being 70 years old (probably in need of a cultural update though). It also has a diverse display of puzzles that give a good gateway for the different Math areas covered, Topology, Logic, Geometry, Probability. Was able to solve a lot more without too much intensive thought but still enough thought given to make them worthwhile exercises.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

This a reprint of a 1961 book which itself was a collection of material which had appeared earlier in magazines so these puzzles have been around a while, and are likely to be familiar to you if you read this type of material. It's written on about a middle school level, which is a perfect fit for me - that's about the point at which I stopped maturing.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

These puzzles vary in quality, but it was fun to feel like part of mathematical history. Some of them seemed to have more to do with literacy than numeracy, which was a bit of a let down. At the same time, I especially liked the “tricky puzzles” at the end, which were more like riddles.

[Petra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tuto knihu jsem si vybrala, protože mě nadchlo, jak Martin Gardner anotoval Alenku v říši divů. Mám ráda hádanky, a na tyto není třeba umět "vyšší" matematiku. Přesto je jich v této knize několik, které mi zamotaly hlavu. Evidentně je opravdu důležité věnovat čas správnému pochopení otázky. :D

[Tanmoy Biswas · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Good book for math enthusiastic people with elementary knowledge. Problems are few in number, but collected from different topics. Most of the problems are entertaining and not so hard to solve.

[Pawan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Trivial yet Intriguing.

[زاهي رستم · Rating 4 out of 5]

Its a good book, even it isn't easy... and sure not for children.. without help..

[Maurizio Codogno · Rating 4 out of 5]

Già prima di tenere la sua famosissima rubrica sullo Scientific American, Martin Gardner pubblicava problemini matematici su varie altre riviste: nulla di strano, visto che in fin dei conti la sua professione era quella di giornalista.
Molti dei problemi di questo libriccino ad esempio apparvero nella rubrica On the Light Side in "Science World". I problemi presentati sono tutti molto semplici, e alla portata anche dei lettori convinti di non essere portati per la matematica. Ma come capita sempre con Gardner, la parte migliore è la spiegazione dei problemi stessi: non solo una guida passo passo alla soluzione, ma anche una visione più ampia che fa capire come non è affatto vero che un problema sia sterile e fine a sé stesso. Insomma un libro che, anche se con quasi mezzo secolo di vita, meriterebbe una traduzione.

[Gregory Tabachnik · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very lovely book, as many of Martin Gardner's books. Love it

[Sean Evans]

Entertaining Mathematical Puzzles by Martin Gardner (1986)

[Izhan Noorzi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd love to kill time with this rather than bringing up trivial stuff with friends.

[Hubert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun and inspirational!

[Kyle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gardner doesn't disappoint with exactly what the title suggests, entertainig mathematical puzzles.

[Stoyan Stoyanov · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not especially entertaining ... and some of the puzzles are not really mathematical but just tricks of wording. If this is meant to help people engage with math, it fails in its purpose.