Geometric Puzzle Design [Paperback]

Stewart Coffin (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1568813120 | ISBN-13: 978-1568813127 | Publication Date: January 2, 2007 | Edition: 2nd

This book discusses how to design good geometric puzzles: two-dimensional dissection puzzles, polyhedral dissections, and burrs. It outlines major categories of geometric puzzles and provides examples, sometimes going into the history and philosophy of those examples. The author presents challenges and thoughtful questions, as well as practical design and woodworking tips to encourage the reader to build his own puzzles and experiment with his own designs. Aesthetics, phychology, and mathematical considerations all factor into the definition of the quality of a puzzle.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Stewart Coffin's new release, with new materials and beautiful illustrations, is by far the best book in its category. It is a must for serious puzzlers and amateurs as well. --Ivan Moscovich

This is a comprehensive reference work by the greatest designer of interlocking puzzles that ever lived. Puzzle designers and craftsmen all over the world have been waiting for just such a book. It encompasses all aspects of Stewart s extraordinary skills, from his use of the psychology of the puzzle solver to design a simple looking puzzle which is an unexpected challenge for the best solver, to the use of coordinate motion in the assembly and disassembly of spectacular and beautiful polyhedral puzzles. We are indeed fortunate that Stewart is willing to share, not only his very best designs, but also his woodworking techniques for making strangely shaped small puzzle pieces extremely accurately and safely. --Jerry Slocum

Stewart Coffin is a brilliant puzzle designer, a master woodworker, and a gifted writer. Stewart has inspired generations of puzzle makers and designers, including myself. His many innovative mechanical puzzles are coveted by collectors for their beauty of design, and their perfect finish. In Geometric Puzzle Design, Stewart explains in detail how some of his puzzles were designed, how they work, and how you can make them for yourself. It is an inspiration for generations to come. --Oskar van Deventer

About the Author

Stewart Coffin has been designing intriguing geometrical puzzles and making them in his workshop for the past 35 years, creating more than 200 original designs. The craftmanship and originality of their designs have won him a devoted following among puzzle enthusiasts and collectors throughout the world.

Product Details

• Paperback: 220 pages
• Publisher: AK Peters; 2nd edition (January 2, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1568813120
• ISBN-13: 978-1568813127
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #427,417 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic book not to be missed, August 15, 2007

By 

George Bell (Boulder, CO USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Geometric Puzzle Design (Paperback)

This book covers a large number of puzzle designs, most due to the author. Most of these puzzles have become sought-after classics. The puzzles are mostly 3D interlocking burrs, but there also included are 2D designs, sliding block puzzles, and non-interlocking 3D puzzles. The author also talks about how to build puzzles, characteristics of wood, etc.

I am not a puzzle builder, but enjoyed the book immesely. The author is an excellent writer and his musings about symmetry and general design considerations I found fascinating. Solutions in general are lacking and much is left to the ingenuity of the reader to keep the mystery of solving these puzzles fresh.

Although you can download the OLD EDITION of this book, I enjoy the physical copy for perusal. Highly recommended. Look for the old edition under the title "The Puzzling World of Polyhedral Dissections".

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A "must-have" for intermediate to advanced woodworkers seeking to create truly brain-teasing gifts., June 9, 2007

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Geometric Puzzle Design (Paperback)

Written by veteran woodworker and expert wood puzzle designer Stewart Coffin, Geometric Puzzle Design is a one-of-a-kind guide to creating intriguing, three-dimensional wooden puzzles. Special techniques for creating oddly shaped small puzzle pieces accurately and safely, recommendations for drafting one's own original designs, mathematical concepts that can be applied as engineering tools, and much more fill this original craftsman's manual. A "must-have" for intermediate to advanced woodworkers seeking to create truly brain-teasing gifts.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars MUST HAVE for puzzle builders, May 8, 2007

By 

J. T. Sandgren "puzzlehead" (Sewell, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Geometric Puzzle Design (Paperback)

Coffin does it again, with the quintessential wooden puzzle builder's guide. If you're fortunate enough to have previous works by Stewart, keep in mind that this is an updated version, so a lot will be repetitive. Then again, if you have the previous version, you're probably a Puzzle Junkie, in which case the updates alone are probably worth it.
If I were going to be stuck on a desert island...and there were trees, and I had a knife and a sharpening stone...then this would be the One Book I'd want.