The Colossal Book of Short Puzzles and Problems

✍ Scribed by Gardner M.

• Publisher: W. W. Norton and Company
• Year: 2005
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 518
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Finally collected in one volume, Martin Gardner's immensely popular short puzzles; along with a few new ones from the master.For more than twenty-five years, Martin Gardner was Scientific American's renowned provocateur of popular math. His yearly gatherings of short and inventive problems were easily his most anticipated math columns. Loyal readers would savor the wit and elegance of his explorations in physics, probability, topology, and chess, among others. Grouped by subject and arrayed from easiest to hardest, the puzzles gathered here, which complement the lengthier, more involved problems in The Colossal Book of Mathematics, have been selected by Gardner for their illuminating; and often bewildering; solutions. Filled with over 300 illustrations, this new volume even contains nine new mathematical gems that Gardner, now ninety, has been gathering for the last decade. No amateur or expert math lover should be without this indispensable volume; a capstone to Gardner's seventy-year career. 308 illustrations

✦ Table of Contents

Cover......Page 1
The Colossal Book of Short Puzzles and Problems......Page 10
Copyright......Page 11
Contents......Page 14
Preface......Page 16
Introduction......Page 18
I Combinatorial & Numerical Problems......Page 22
1. Combinatorics......Page 24
2. Probability......Page 60
3. Numbers......Page 82
4. Algebra......Page 106
II Geometric Puzzles......Page 126
5. Plane Geometry......Page 128
6. Solid Geometry......Page 161
7. Shapes & Dissections......Page 187
8. Topology......Page 218
III Algorithmic Puzzles & Games......Page 246
9. Procedures......Page 248
10. Scheduling & Planning......Page 291
11. Games......Page 333
12. Chess......Page 360
IV Other Puzzles......Page 386
13. Logic......Page 388
14. Cryptarithms......Page 410
15. Wordplay......Page 421
16. Physical Objects......Page 443
17. Physics......Page 461
Appendix: Twelve More Brain Teasers......Page 480
Selected Titles......Page 488
Index......Page 492