Customer Reviews

1000 Play Thinks: Puzzles, Paradoxes, Illusions & Games

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

As I dipped into this book I became more and more annoyed. It has many, many mistakes, of all kinds, in it. Even in presenting well-known puzzles the author manages to make serious errors. Here are a few of the mistakes that I noticed:

(Puzzle 307) Morley's theorem is (to quote the late H.S.M. Coxeter) "one on the most surprising theorems in elementary geometry", but Moscovich manages to get the diagram wrong! The triangle which he picks out does not even look equilateral!

(Puzzle 772) For the well-known puzzle of passing a cube through a smaller cube the author begins his explanation: "If you hold a cube so that one corner points directly toward you, its edges outline a hexagon. It then becomes obvious that the cube has ample space for a square hole slightly larger than one of its faces." There is even a picture of a hexagon with a square superimposed on it. Although a cube can be passed through a (slightly) smaller cube in this way, it is well known that the optimum solution does not have the edges of the hole parallel to the space diagonal of the cube.

(Puzzle 990) Weighing from 1 to 40 grams using weights on one side of a balance only. Moscovich says "you must have the weights 1, 2, 4, 8, 16 and 32 grams". Not so. For example, 1, 2, 4, 8, 9 and 16 would be ok.

I began to compile a list of errors in this book, but I gave up when I had accumulated over 30, having read, I would estimate, about a quarter of the book.

The book has a "Difficulty Index" which should be renamed the "Difficult Index". You have to know the exact title of a puzzle and its level (from 1 to 9), in order to find it again using this index.

I teach in the gifted math program and one of my students brought this book in. The students were captivated by its thought provoking challenges. The challenges come in all levels so that it captures the interest of all range of students/adults. The solutions are in the back with great explainations. This book would be great for ages 8 through adult!

I bought this book because it is beautiful and it looked like fun brain exercise. But much to my disappointment I found too many mistakes in the answers. A good example is the very pretty Pick Up Sticks. The answer in the back is most definitely wrong! I find this type of error in this type of book to be unacceptable, and think it could be very frustrating and discouraging to a person that might not be able to tell whether or not their answer was indeed correct and the book was wrong. I returned my copy to the book store.

Maybe I'm just not smart enough to do these puzzles but some of them certainly require more detailed solutions than the ones offered or there isn't any point in having solutions. In addition there is way to much similarity in the puzzles, many of the so-called puzzles are more in the brain-teaser category (how can the purchaser of a parrot be dissatisfied if the parrot repeats every word it hears, as advertised?), at least one answer is either wrong or the problem is phrased improperly, some answers are impossible to comprehend (possibly just me again), there are some typos in the answers and finally there is no explication of some mathematical "rules" or "laws" that are used to justify answers.
On the plus side the book is beautiful, user friendly, looks good on the coffee table and makes a great paper-weight/doorstop.
If you like puzzles try Sam Loyd or Martin Gardner.

I purchased this book a short time ago and am slowly getting into it. It is sure to become one of the great puzzle books. I have been interested in puzzles for many years and have a collection of over 350 "puzzle books" I have no hesitation in ranking this book right up there with "Cyclopedia of Puzzles" by Sam Loyd, "The Moscow Puzzles" by Boris Kordemsky" and "536 Puzzles & Curious Problems" by H.E.Dudeney. Each in it's own way; Loyd's was an innovation and a classic in it's time,Dudeney's and Kordemsky's were very traditional with great variety. Moscovich gives us a whole new approach in types of puzzles and a huge leap in the incorporation of art and graphics into the world of puzzles. The greatest puzzle of all to me is how this book could be produced and sold in the price range of a novel with no artwork,color or illustrations. On behalf of puzzle enthusiasts everywhere I would like to commend the author and publishers. Anyone who likes puzzles will love this book.

There are many great riddles, but way too often are the questions, answers and short tutorials incomplete, misleading or plain wrong. Unbelievable that he can't even correctly define what a complete graph is. He says you have a complete graph if every two nodes can be connected by two disjunct paths. What a [junk]. His intentions might be good, but he's way too careless. I tried to read some puzzles several times, but about one third of the time it's just annoying and frustrating. Note that I'm not frustrated because I can't solve the problems. I can, that's the sad part. It's him, making mistakes.

The puzzles/questions in the book are challenging but several times the author is too vague in his description and leaves the reader wondering what exactly the author is asking. Thus, the reader is left with several ways to interpret the puzzle/question. However, it is fun and I would still recommend it to help with critical thinking skills and nurturing creative thinking/ideas.

I teach gifted children, and I am always looking for something I can pull out quickly for the one or two students who finish their work early. This is a fantastic resource. In fact, I've had to put it up on a high shelf. Otherwise, my students run into the room and grab it. The puzzles really require thinking and concentration. The variety of puzzles provides something for any type of intelligence (math, verbal, etc.) and any age group. This would also be a good coffee table book for a waiting room, employee lounge, or your own living room. Hours of building new brain cells -- that's a good thing!

This is one of the best puzzle books EVER!They are challenging but not to hard. The only problem is 5 days after i got it the binding broke in 4 spots. Still very satisfied

I apologize - this may be more of a review of a review than a review of the book itself, but it MAY help your decisions. I've learned enough about the book from these reviews to realize there are some sloppy mistakes and things to watch for.

On the other hand, the review of KC Carrel below (Dec 29, 2003) ALSO contains some SERIOUS mistakes. His/her 2nd paragraph is flat out WRONG. The probability in the problem referred IS 18/36, not 12/21, and her/his discussion of "outcomes" is misleading at best. (By KC's reasoning, a two child family would have a child of each gender one third of the time, instead of 1/2 of the time, as is the case.)

You may choose not to buy the book, but DO NOT make that choice on the strength of this review alone. (I notice that everyone found it helpful and that's scary.)