Customer Reviews

The Alien IQ Test

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Disregarding the Earth encountering a planet-busting meteor, the most traumatic event that the human race could experience is to learn of the existence of an extra-terrestrial intelligence. Humans are more sensitive about the perceptions of their intelligence than any other characteristic. Which would make the knowledge of a species of superior intelligence the cause of an outbreak of planet-wide paranoia.
Pickover uses this as a premise to present a series of puzzles and create a little intellectual paranoia in his readers. Most of these puzzles are hard, although he does take pity and provide detailed solutions. Hopefully any alien in the same position will be as tolerant. And he also raises some very serious points of debate. What is the proper gift for an emissary from another planet? A human body part or a priceless Van Gogh? What one message would provide the most information to a human society attempting to rebuild a civilization? Which is more important, belief in God or the existence of God?
Once again, Pickover demonstrates his exceptional ability to pose unusual and challenging questions. Perhaps there is a grain of truth in the premise to the book.

Published in Journal of Recreational Mathematics, reprinted with permission

My friend is a school teacher and uses this book to get her students to think. It's a good puzzle book for all ages. Youngsters can attack some of the easier problems. Adults can try to tackle some of the harder problems. The fantastic alien artwork makes the book of special interest. Anyone who buys this mind-shattering book is sure to change the way they think about the people with whom we share this planet. Wild! My favorite puzzle is called "Survival on Arcturus." Try it.

I personally liked this book, but if you ask the rest of my family they would tell you it was great, it was annoying or ridiculous. So it really depends on whether you enjoy looking for solutions-not everything has just one right answer.

If you are the type of person who likes to look for a backdoor to a problem, then you will probably enjoy this book.

A fun book. Some of the puzzles aren't puzzles per se, but interesting thought-provoking pieces. Some of the other puzzles aren't that much fun, but most of them are, and I've bought many copies to give to friends.

I am a big fan of this author, but this book falls VERY short. He comes up with obscure patterns that you must try to solve. Here is an example of his work (that I'm making up):

What is the next number?
2, 4, 6, 8, ?

The answer is 2. Why? It's because I'm only doing even number less than 10. This is typical of his "puzzles". There is no logic to them, simply guessing. I suggest reading his other books or finding a different brain-teasing book.

Aliens are so last millennium, and so are most of these puzzles.

One or two are interesting enough, but they're dressed up in such pretentious pseudo-SF twaddle that it's too much like hard work to figure out what the problem actually is. And most of them are childishly simple.

The only reason why this gets two stars rather than the one it otherwise deserves is because of the philosophical questions asked and discussed.

Fortunately it's not a big book. If you see it in a garage sale or a thrift store, pick it up if it costs no more than a dollar.

The Alien IQ Test was fascinating reading. I especially liked some of the puzzles toward the end dealing with art and human emotion!

Note the great reviews by other puzzlemeisters... Don't be fooled, they're just pluging each others books. These puzzles have been kickin aroun for a long time, Pickover just dressed them up with Science Fiction. Difficulty rating in book doesn't make much sense. I expected better for my money.

"If earthly problems and puzzles have become too mundane for you -- match wits with those in Pickover's new and literally far out The Alien IQ Test. Another ingenious twist by a master of puzzles and brainteasers." - Theoni Pappas, author of The Joy of Mathematics

"The Alien IQ Test is the most original -- and challenging -- puzzle book for years. Clifford Pickover just seems to exist in more dimensions than the rest of us." - Ian Stewart, Professor of Mathematics, University of Warwick, Author of Nature's Numbers, and Scientific American Columnist