Madachy S Mathematical Recreations

For over eighty years this delightful classic has provided entertainment through mathematical problems commonly known as recreations. Although they often involve fundamental mathematical methods and notions, their chief appeal is as games or puzzles rather than the usefulness of their conclusions. This new edition upholds the original, but the terminology and treatment of problems have been updated and much new material has been added. There are new selections on polyominoes and the notion of dragon designs, and a new chapter, ‘Introduction to Combinatorics.’ Other topics dealt with in the fourteen chapters include arithmetical and geometrical recreations and problems, polyhedra, chess-board recreations, unicursal problems, cryptography and cryptanalysis, and calculating prodigies. Since no knowledge of calculus or analytic geometry is necessary to enjoy the recreations, this book will appeal widely to teachers of mathematics and students and to anyone who is mathematically inclined.

Praised for its "exceptionally good value" by the Journal of Recreational Mathematics, this book offers fun-filled insights into many fields of mathematics. The brainteasers include original puzzles as well as new approaches to classic conundrums. A vast assortment of challenges features domino puzzles, the game of noughts and crosses, games of encirclement, sliding movement puzzles, subtraction games, puzzles in mechanics, games with piles of matches, a road puzzle with concentric circles, "Catch the Giant," and much more. Detailed solutions show several methods by which a particular problem may be answered, why one method is preferable, and where the others fail. With numerous worked examples, the clear, step-by-step analyses cover how the problem should be approached, including hints and enumeration of possibilities and determination of probabilities, application of the theory of probability, and evaluation of contingencies and mean values. Readers are certain to improve their puzzle-solving strategies as well as their mathematical skills.

"Fans will find this volume indispensable; casual readers will find it an attractive nuisance," observed The Scientific American of this challenging compilation of conundrums, diabolic squares, flexagons, geometric dissections, other puzzles.