Games Puzzles And Math Excursions

The games presented here are mainly 2-person strategic board games and Solitaire Puzzles, when alone. There is a welcome difference between strategic board games and puzzles. A puzzle has a solution and once you’ve solved it, it is not that interesting any more. A strategy game can be played again and again. Chess, the “King of all Board Games”, is not included here as it forms a subject by itself, but there are a few pre-chess puzzles. Bridge, the “Queen of all Card Games”, is also not included as Card games and Dice games involve a certain element of luck; the games here are not based on chance or probability. Apart from Games and Puzzles, there is a small chapter on Mathematical Excursions. These are explorations of non mathematicians like me into the ways of thinking and understanding patterns that mathematicians visualise and analyse for sheer pleasure without any monetary or practical benefit. How can a chess knight’s move over a chess board be beneficial to anybody? But this exploration has been going on for 2000 years. Also, whereas Pythagoras’ Theorem was of great benefit to society, what will proving Fermat’s Theorem accomplish? For a mathematician, the overriding influence of numbers becomes his aim in life.

These marvelous, stimulating games for the mind include geometric paradoxes, cube and color arrangement puzzles, calendar paradoxes, much more. Detailed solutions prepare readers for puzzles of even greater complexity.

A collection of solitaires and games.

99 puzzles built around the chessboard. Arithmetical and probability problems, chessboard recreations, geometrical puzzles, mathematical amusements and games, more. Solutions.

A straightedge, compass, and a little thought are all that's needed to discover the intellectual excitement of geometry. Harmonic division and Apollonian circles, inversive geometry, hexlet, Golden Section, more. 132 illustrations.

Did you know that games and puzzles have given birth to many of today's deepest mathematical subjects? Now, with Douglas Ensley and Winston Crawley's Introduction to Discrete Mathematics, you can explore mathematical writing, abstract structures, counting, discrete probability, and graph theory, through games, puzzles, patterns, magic tricks, and real-world problems. You will discover how new mathematical topics can be applied to everyday situations, learn how to work with proofs, and develop your problem-solving skills along the way. Online applications help improve your mathematical reasoning. Highly intriguing, interactive Flash-based applications illustrate key mathematical concepts and help you develop your ability to reason mathematically, solve problems, and work with proofs. Explore More icons in the text direct you to online activities at www.wiley.com/college/ensley. Improve your grade with the Student Solutions Manual. A supplementary Student Solutions Manual contains more detailed solutions to selected exercises in the text.

Since it was first published three decades ago, Excursions Into Mathematics has been one of the most popular mathematical books written for a general audience. Taking the reader for short "excursions" into several specific disciplines of mathematics, it makes mathematical concepts accessible to a wide audience. The Millennium Edition is updated with current research and new solutions to outstanding problems that have been discovered since the last edition was printed, such as the solution to the well-known "four-color problem." Excursions Into Mathematics: The Millennium Edition is an exciting revision of the original, much-loved classic. Everyone with an interest in mathematics should read this book.

"The appeal of games and puzzles is timeless and universal. In this unique book, David Wells explores the fascinating connections between games and mathematics, proving that mathematics is not just about tedious calculation but imagination, insight and intuition. The first part of the book introduces games, puzzles and mathematical recreations, including the Tower of Hanoi, knight tours on a chessboard, Nine Men's Morris and more. The second part explains how thinking about playing games can mirror the thinking of a mathematician, using scientific investigation, tactics and strategy, and sharp observation. Finally the author considers game-like features found in a wide range of human behaviours, illuminating the role of mathematics and helping to explain why it exists at all. This thought-provoking book is perfect for anyone with a thirst for mathematics and its hidden beauty; a good high school grounding in mathematics is all the background that's required, and the puzzles and games will suit pupils from 14 years"--