Lateral Thinking Puzzlers [Paperback]

Paul Sloane (Author), Myron Miller (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 9 and up | Grade Level: 4 and up

Logic is not enough. Edward de Bono coined the phrase "lateral thinking" to describe a process of thinking that is different from normal, vertical or forward thinking. Here are nearly a hundred mind-benders, from easy to fiendishly hard, that make you think laterally in order to explain the set of circumstances surrounding a seemingly inexplicable situation. 96 pages, 18 b/w illus., 5 3/8 x 8 1/4.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: Sterling (June 30, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0806982276
• ISBN-13: 978-0806982274
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #684,849 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Lateral doesn't mean implausible, October 30, 2000

By 

Adam Rutkowski (Lennox Head, Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lateral Thinking Puzzlers (Paperback)

There are some very clever puzzles in this book, and it is a lot of fun trying to rationalise a seemingly impossible situation. However, some of the puzzles have not an ingenious answer, but an implausible one. It works, but it makes no sense. The best way to back this up is to demonstrate. This is on of the easy puzzles taken from the very start of the book, so giving the answer away is no big deal (but stop reading if you don't want to know it):

One night during the Second World War, an allied bomber was on a mission over Germany. The plane was in perfect condition and everything on it worked properly. When it had reached its target, the pilot ordered the bomb doors opened. They opened. He then ordered the bombs released. They were released. But the bombs did not fall from the plane. Why should this be so?

Some clues are given, and the eventual answer is that the plane was flying upside-down. Now, lateral thinking it might be, but it makes no sense that a plane flying a mission during a war would order its bombs to be released over a target while it was flying upside down. A good puzzle encourages thinking, but anyone who seriously tries to answer that puzzle would discard the given answer as making no sense.

There are still some very clever puzzles to be found here, and the book is worth buying if you want a collection of lateral thinking puzzles, but beware that sometimes Sloane crosses the fine line between ingenious and implausible.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Thinking outside the box, June 2, 2003

By 

Matt (Minnesota USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lateral Thinking Puzzlers (Paperback)

I got this book, along with 3 other Sloane & MacHale lateral thinking puzzle books for Christmas one year. At first it seemed like a sorry excuse for a gift, but as I read this one first, I found that it was a challenging endeavor of the mind. Lateral thinking, it seems, is taking a situation and finding a solution that is not the most obvious, but usually the most logical. That said, this is challenging to say the least. A good book for people who enjoy mind games.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book, October 20, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Lateral Thinking Puzzlers (Paperback)

This book is an excellent resource for teachers. I have used it with my 6th graders often. It is the perfect thing to fill in an extra five or ten minutes and really boosts the students thinking skills.