Customer Reviews

Curious and Interesting Puzzles, The Penguin Book of (Penguin Science)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

For a collection of the best puzzles from around the world throughout history, nothing beats this book. David Wells draws on sources such the medieval monk Alcuin, the 18th-century Ladies' Diary, the Bhakshali Hindu manuscript as well more familiar 19th-century authors like Lewis Carroll (Alice in Wonderland). These puzzles in logic and math range from the pretty easy to the quite challenging, from divided fields and magic squares to riddles and rhymes. But all you need is pencil and paper; no specialized knowledge in math or logic (or advanced degree) is required.

This is an excellent and comprehensive collection of puzzles. It contains most of the classic and well-known puzzles of this type that I know. Also, every puzzle is unique and it does not contain redundant puzzles like "What is the next figure?" or number series.

Most of the puzzles require at most K12 math knowledge, making it suitable for teenagers. The only flaw I found in it was that the puzzle index is not very robust regarding variations on the same puzzle.

All in all, a very good book for hours of pondering.

Although it is a Q&A style book it is a good puzzle survey

This book is a historical recapitulation of puzzles that have been published through the history of the sport. It begins with what appears on ancient clay tablets and scrolls and ends with what first appeared in the last decades of the twentieth century. Therefore, most of the material will be familiar to all veteran puzzlers; all of the classics appear in one form or another and sometimes in many forms. Solutions to all of the puzzles are included at the end, so if you are interested in a list of the major puzzles that have appeared down through history, this is the book for you.