Game, Set and Math: Enigmas and Conundrums (Dover Classics of Science & Mathematics) [Paperback]

Ian Stewart (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 29, 2007 | ISBN-10: 0486458849 | ISBN-13: 978-0486458847

These pun-studded fables by a popular science writer make complicated mathematical concepts accessible and fun. Twelve essays take a playful approach to mathematics, investigating the topology of a warm blanket, the odds of beating a superior tennis player, and how to distinguish between fact and fallacy. 1991 edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Dover Publications (March 29, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0486458849
• ISBN-13: 978-0486458847
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 7.6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,192,192 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #34 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Science > Mathematics > Recreation & Games

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wading through puns to learn mathematics, November 16, 2002

By 

Charles Ashbacher (Marion, Iowa United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Game, Set and Math: Enigmas and Conundrums (Penguin Mathematics) (Mass Market Paperback)

Like the man who replaced Babe Ruth in the Yankee outfield, Ian Stewart is replacing a legend. When Martin Gardner "retired" as the editor of the Mathematical Games column of Scientific American it was eventually taken over by A. K. Dewdney and became Computer Recreations. Now written by Ian Stewart and called Mathematical Recreations, it is proving a worthy successor to the master. This book is a collection of twelve essays that explain serious mathematics using an unserious approach.
Set in a format that is best described as a chatty fable with puns included, the essays are certainly easy to read. However, as is usual with material containing a lot of puns, they do at times distract from the point of the essay. And those points are very good. The topology of a warm blanket, the odds of beating a tennis player that is better than you, logic and the construction of viruses are some of the topics covered in this book. All are presented as mathematical recreations with a minimum of computer involvement.
No one could possibly replace Martin Gardner. The best that can be done is to carve a successful, distinctive niche, which is what Ian Stewart has done.

Published in Journal of Recreational Mathematics, reprinted with permission.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting but difficult, June 12, 2000

By 

Bob McGrew - See all my reviews

This review is from: Game, Set and Math: Enigmas and Conundrums (Penguin Mathematics) (Mass Market Paperback)

The book is a set of puzzles for the reader to solve, often involving a family of worms that have to split a blanket, cut a cheese, or some other commonplace task that nonetheless can take mathematics to solve in the required way. The author originally wrote the puzzles for the French edition of Scientific American. Some of the mathematics involved is the standard (but interesting) pop-math like games with infinity, but others get into topology and higher mathematics. While many of the puzzles are quite interesting, a few will lose the casual reader (even the well-informed casual reader.) Nevertheless, the pleasure of sticking it out for the good ones repays the pain.