No one outdoes Martin Gardner in writing about mathematics in an understandable way. He is also a very modest and helpful man, in my communications with him he has always been willing to give credit to others, sometimes when it seemed clear that it was his. This book contains some of the best puzzles that Gardner has encountered and of course, he describes them in his own clear style that makes them so easy to understand. Solutions are included; the level of difficulty is such that the middle school student will be able to follow them. Many of them are of the "Aha!" variety, where the solution is obvious once you encounter it. 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. "Only an elementary knowledge of math is needed to enjoy this entertaining compilation of brain-teasers. It includes a mixture of old and new riddles covering a variety of mathematical topics: money, speed, plane and solid geometry, probability, topology, tricky puzzles and more. Carefully explained solutions follow each problem. 65 black-and-white illustrations"--From publisher description
