My best mathematical and logic puzzles

Reference

Print length: 96 pagesDover, 1994

Description

Martin Gardner gathers a varied set of short mathematical and logic puzzles designed to reward ingenuity more than advanced training. Each problem invites the reader to pause, test an approach, and then compare it with Gardner’s lucid solution, which often exposes the misleading assumption at the heart of the puzzle. The collection moves among number patterns, probability, geometry, arrangements, games, and verbal logic, making it suitable for browsing as well as sustained problem-solving. Some challenges yield to a quick conceptual turn; others require diagrams, patient deduction, or a willingness to revise an apparently obvious answer. The result is an interactive tour of recreational mathematics and the habits of mind that make elegant solutions possible.

Reading profile

About this profile

Collected’s assessment, not reader ratings. Complexity runs from 1 (least demanding) to 5 (most demanding).

Writing: How much attention the sentences and language require.
Ideas: How much interpretation or abstract reasoning the book asks of you.
Structure: How much you need to keep track of speakers, timelines and connections.
Background knowledge: Prior knowledge needed to follow the book, beyond what it explains.
Emotional intensity: Emotional pressure, from gentle (1) to intense (5). Separate from difficulty.

Writing style

Direct · Technical

Pace

Variable

Tone

Cerebral · Playful

Structure

Anthology · Reference

Focus

Ideas · Information

Emotional intensity

1 / 5

Reading complexity

1–5 · higher means more demanding

Writing: 2 / 5
Ideas: 4 / 5
Structure: 2 / 5
Background knowledge: 2 / 5

Themes

Art and creativityKnowledge and truth

About Martin Gardner

Martin Gardner (1914–2010) was an American writer whose work ranged across recreational mathematics, popular science, magic, scientific skepticism, philosophy, religion, and literature. He was best known for his “Mathematical Games” columns, which sustained public interest in mathematics by explaining difficult ideas in terms general readers could follow. Books drawn from this work, including Mathematical Circus, approach number patterns, probability, geometry, and other subjects through puzzles and self-contained explorations. The Ambidextrous Universe shows the same method on a larger scale, beginning with mirror reversal and using symmetry to connect everyday observation with chemistry, biology, and physics. Gardner also became a leading authority on Lewis Carroll. The Annotated Alice, incorporating both Alice books, was his most successful publication. Across more than one hundred books, he treated play, explanation, and skeptical inquiry as closely related pursuits.

Book details

For the print edition listed above.

Publisher: Dover
Language: English
ISBN: 9780486281520

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