Customer Reviews

THE LADY OR THE TIGER?

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I find it surprising that this book is almost unknown and out of print. This collection of logic puzzles is easily one of the best ever written. Starting with a small set of lighthearted teasers, continuing with progressively more serious problems, including probably the most complete variations on liar/knight and metapuzzle themes, and finishing with the best amateur level introduction to "serious" mathematical logic I have ever seen. The ideas are presented with amazing clarity and in the form digestible to the most casual reader, preserving the beauty but without compromising the essence of the arguments.

Don't let this one get away if you can find a copy.

I'm a novice when in comes to logic puzzles but this book just kept my attention....the puzzles get pretty hard towards the end but answers are included at the end of each chapter.

Well, or at least, think about it. This small little book by Smullyan is a fantastic collection of logic puzzles arranged in the increasing order of complexity & complete with solutions.

For those of you not intimately familiar with logic puzzles, Wikipedia provides a good definition. And interestingly enough, Smullyan's name & this book are mentioned in that very article. I cannot quite understand why such a book would be out print, but may be there are other ways of passing your time.

Back to the book. The great thing about a verbal puzzle, unlike a non-verbal one like Sudoku, is that there is a story behind it. So while both may be mathematics, if you get a Sudoku wrong - yes, well, nothing much happens. However, if a prisoner who has to deduce an escape route or die - now that's an entirely different proposition. So the "old-fashioned" story-telling continues - different situations, doctors & patients, sane or insane, vampire or human, the Isle of dreams & so on.

Even if you do not have the time yourself, I think this is still a great book to give a child. It is a fun way to learn Mathematics without realizing that you're learning Mathematics. And frankly, wouldn't you just love just love to say something that begins with "Elementary, my dear Watson"

S!

What a shame that this book is out of print. It is another of Raymond Smullyan's wonderful logic puzzle books; one that I found almost as challenging as To Mock a Mockingbird. Smullyan is a first rate mathematician, and it is quite a testiment to him that he is able to construct these logic puzzles that are both lots of fun to solve and also teach non-mathematicians how to think about serious logical issues. I found this book at a garage sale. Maybe you'll be lucky too!