A Lifetime of Puzzles: A Collection of Puzzles in Honor of Martin Gardner's 90th Birthday [Hardcover]

Erik D. Demaine (Editor), Martin L. Demaine (Editor), Tom Rodgers (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1568812450 | ISBN-13: 978-1568812458 | Publication Date: October 2008

This collection is a tribute to Martin Gardner by mathematicians, puzzle masters, and magicians. It was conceived and initiated in honor of his 90th birthday and is finally published as he celebrates his 94th year, maintaining the inspiring creativity that has motivated so many professional mathematicians and amateurs, who are all dedicated to his unique amalgamation of rational thought and magic. Some of the contributions celebrate the life of Martin Gardner; some tell about his influence on individuals or on the field of recreational mathematics in general; some are puzzles or tricks inspired by Martin Gardner and his work. Martin Gardner stands at the intersection of magic and mathematics. Mathematical magic, like chess, has its own curious charms, he says. [It] combines the beauty of mathematical structure with the entertainment value of a trick . Martin Gardner has been writing about magic and contributing new effects for nearly seventy years. Today, he keeps in contact with magicians like Penn and Teller by phone and receives occasional visits from magicians who come to trade notes with him. In 1999 he was named one of MAGIC Magazine s 100 most influential magicians of the twentieth century.

Editorial Reviews

Review

This nice collection of articles is a lovely tribute to Martin Gardner, the great magician, entertainer, and father of modern recreational mathematics. It will bring many happy moments to the readers keen on exploring connections between puzzles, magic, and mathematics.
—Zentralblatt MATH, February 2009

The articles include puzzles, personal recollections of the authors' friendships with Gardner, and historical pieces. The personalized articles are wonderfully done and give the reader insight into Gardner’s inquisitive nature. . . . There are twenty-five articles in all so let me give a short description of just a few. 'Tangram: The World’s First Puzzle Craze' by Jerry Slocum ranks high, giving a history of the tangram and pictures of artifacts and modern day renditions. 'De Viribus Quantitatis by Luca Pacioli: The First Recreational Mathematics Book,' by David Singmaster, is filled with details, pictures, and reproductions of book pages that show puzzles have happily been with us for a very long time. I was struck by M. Oskar van Deventer’s article 'Mechanical Mazes.' He describes not the popular two-dimensional mazes, but three-dimensional mazes and puzzles. . . . Each of the articles can be read independently so if you don’t like one, simply move to another. . . . the book is a fine tribute to Mr. Gardner.
—MAA Reviews, May 2009

... a tribute to Martin Gardner by respected puzzle masters, magicians, and mathematicians, offers resources for educators and recreational mathematicians alike. A collection of essays encompassing a variety of topics, the book includes a brief history of Gardner's work, magic tricks, mechanical puzzles, word puzzles, mazes and games. ... Educators will find nonroutine problems suitable for use at the secondary school level and above, while recreational mathematicians will enjoy a variety of puzzles and mathematical objects. ... Readers will enjoy the journey down a road less traveled to the place where mathematics, magic, and puzzles meet.
—Josh Hertel, Mathematics Teacher, September 2009

... For fans of Martin Gardner and for all concerned with communicating to the public the fascination of mathematical research, it is an ideal bedside book.
—Phill Schultz, Australian Mathematical Society, March 2010

About the Author

Martin Gardner (1914 -) was the Mathematical Games columnist for Scientific American. He originated the column in 1956, and his columns appeared until his retirement from the magazine in 1986. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Chicago in 1936. Prior to his Navy service in World War II, he was a reporter on the Tulsa Tribune and a staff writer with the University of Chicago Press Relations Department. After the war, he became a freelance writer.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 250 pages
• Publisher: AK Peters (October 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1568812450
• ISBN-13: 978-1568812458
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,174,472 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Lifetime of Puzzles, November 22, 2009

By 

Isabelle Jolly (El Segundo, CA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: A Lifetime of Puzzles: A Collection of Puzzles in Honor of Martin Gardner's 90th Birthday (Hardcover)

My entire family likes puzzles of all sorts, and I bought this as a gift for one of my sons, a physicist and engineer, who also collects and designs wooden puzzles. (The book was published in honor of Martin Gardner's 90th birthday!)

The puzzles are a collection contributed by mathematicians, magicians, and others. They range from math to tricks to mazes to wooden puzzles, all kinds of things. History of puzzles throughout the ages is shown. Explanations accompany the puzzles.

The reader should be well versed in mathematics to get the most out of the book.

It's a really nice book for anyone who likes convoluted puzzles, and the text is well written. There is a list of the contributors in the back, with a short paragraph about each one. This is interesting, too.

I really like it, (I looked through it, of course, before I wrapped it up!), and it will keep you very well entertained.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gardner's life was too short but his legacy is enduring. This book is part of what he helped accomplish, May 24, 2011

By 

Charles Ashbacher (Marion, Iowa United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Lifetime of Puzzles: A Collection of Puzzles in Honor of Martin Gardner's 90th Birthday (Hardcover)

The first section of this book is rightfully devoted to magic, an area that Martin Gardner had an enormous influence over. The very term "mathemagical" can be used to describe much of what he did, as a large number of magic tricks have a basis in mathematical operations.
Some of the greatest puzzles in history are the topic of the second section, it opens with the tangram, which launched the first ever puzzle craze and is still keeping many people busy. "De Viribus Quantatis" by Luca Pacioli is considered the first recreational mathematics book ever printed and is the second topic of the second section. One clear point is how old some problems/puzzles are. The much repeated and modified River Crossing problem appears in "De Viribus Quantatis" which was published in 1500 CE. Sections 3 and 4 contain descriptions of puzzles and games and there is of course a section on magic squares. The final paper demonstrates a way that arithmetic and numbers can be represented by rectangles.
Martin Gardner lived past his ninetieth birthday and he was mentally sound right up to the end. We were all blessed to have had him on earth for so long; his legacy to mathematics and magic has great depth and breadth. This book demonstrates some of that legacy, but only volumes can do it justice.

Published in Journal of Recreational Mathematics, reprinted with permission