Review
'Gardner's monthly romp through recreational math and logic ran in Scientific American for 25 years, from the Sputnik splash to the Reagan reign, and nobody has been able to match it since. 'Mathematical Games' was an orgy of right-brain tomfoolery that could be approached for superficial fun or deep insight, or both at the same time … I can't think of a better present for a clever 12-year old, bored undergraduate, restless retiree, or stay-at-home parent fearing intellectual stagnation.' David Brooks, The Telegraph
'Hexaflexagons, Probability Paradoxes, and the Tower of Hanoi and Origami, Eleusis, and the Soma Cube provide a taste of Gardner’s prowess at devising quirky and fascinating mathematical conundrums. An excellent example is the 'generalised ham-sandwich theorem', which, among other things, explains how a doughnut can be sliced into 13 pieces by three simultaneous plane cuts.' Physics World
Product Description
Paradoxes and paper-folding, Moebius variations and mnemonics, fallacies, magic squares, topological curiosities, parlor tricks, and games ancient and modern, from Polyominoes, Nim, Hex, and the Tower of Hanoi to four-dimensional ticktacktoe. These mathematical recreations, clearly and cleverly presented by Martin Gardner, delight and perplex while demonstrating principles of logic, probability, geometry, and other fields of mathematics. Hexaflexagons, Probability Paradoxes, and the Tower of Hanoi is the inaugural volume in Martin Gardner’s New Mathematical Library. This book of the earliest of Gardner’s enormously popular Scientific American columns and puzzles continues to challenge and fascinate readers. Now the author, in consultation with experts, has added updates to all the chapters, including new game variations, mathematical proofs, and other developments and discoveries.
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