Customer Reviews

My Best Mathematical and Logic Puzzles (Dover Recreational Math)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Marvelous book. I found it better than many books but my friends, who were not that conversant with intermediate mathematics did not like it much. Though this book doesn't require a knowledge of calculus, people who have this level might appreciate the book more. But it has more to do with mathematical 'thinking' rather than mathematics itself.

So get this one if you are good at mathematical thinking and want to challenge yourself. If you are weak in math and would rather read puzzles that require only logic, cleverness, and lateral thinking only, this may not be the one for you.

Martin Gardner is the grand old man of puzzles and recreational mathematics. I recommend this book for intermediary and advanced puzzle enthusiasts - beginners might find some of these too challenging.

Intermediary puzzlists will find the pleasures of often working at the upper edge of their skills. The solutions at the end of the book are complete enough so that even those who didn't get it right the first time will get aha insights.

The book is well worth its price even for puzzle enthusiasts. Even I knew many of the puzzles beforehand - classics indeed - but the notes in the solutions often add a twist, a clever solution or a human interest point of view.

The age recommendation of amazon.com - 4-8 years - is probably either an insider joke or a typo. I'd recommend this book to people between 14-80 years of age, and even over.

I have accumulated quite a few puzzle books and was never fully satisfied with any of them until I heard about Martin Gardner and decided to pick up one his books. The puzzles are diverse, ranging from word problems to geometry problems.

The solutions given are very complete and actually take up the majority of the pages in the book.

On a somewhat related note, if you happen to be interviewing in the technical fields you may run across interviewers that ask brain teasers. You'll find many of those problems (or ones that are very similar) in this book. For technical interviewing this makes a good study guide.

"My best mathematical and logic puzzles" presents 70 of the best of the brain teaser that Martin Gardner published over a period of 25 years in his Mathematical games column at Scientific American. It some cases references to new developments related with specific puzzles have been added.

Martin Gardner was always especially careful to present in his American Scientific column only new and unfamiliar puzzles that have not been included in classic collections before. Now you can challenge your solving skills and rattle your ego with a compilation of his best mind-benders.

Here is an example of what you can find inside this book (31. The absent-minded teller}:

"An absent-minded bank teller switched the dollars and cents when he cashed a check for Mr. Brown, giving him dollars instead of cents, and cents instead of dollars. After buying a five-cent newspaper, Mr. Brown discovered that he had left exactly twice as much as his original check. What was the amount of the check?"

One of the best things about Martin Gardner books is that a carefully explained solution follows each problem, this way you learn and add new abilities to your problem solving skills, that will sure be helpful in solving real life problems, while entertaining yourself with a good and challenging reading.

This is a great collection of puzzles from the Master Of It All. However, the book is exactly what is says it is: It is a collection of Martin Gardner's puzzles previously published in Scientific America. That means if you have followed Gardner's column over the years, you will have seen many of these puzzles already. And precisely because they're the "best," chances are you still remember them. Of course my favorite (a monk leaves his monastery and goes up the mountain...) is in there, as are a number of other favorites.

Martin Gardner made this book excellent by putting in rare mathematical and logical puzzles. I found that throughout the entire book, I only knew one puzzle previously. He includes descriptive answers and puts in feedback from those who found different or better solutions. He also talks about any thoughts you might have that aren't in the solution, but closely related. I recommend this book, as it's one of the few that isn't filled with word puzzles. If you are looking for a book that makes you think, this is it.

This is a fascinating collection of puzzles from the master of mathemagics. It's clear and undeniable: if you want the best in fun, challenging puzzles, buy anything written by Gardner or his heir apparent, Terry Stickels. You can't go wrong!!!

Nice collection of puzzles with varying difficulties, which do not require any special knowledge of mathematics.

This is a must bring when you go on vacation and just need some time to chill at the beach or at the end of a busy day, in between day and evening plans. If you happen to be interviewing in the technical fields you may run across interviewers that ask brain teasers. You'll find many of those problems in this book. For technical interviewing this makes a good study guide. I have collected quite a few puzzle books and was never fully satisfied with any of them until I heard about the authoer and decided to pick up one his books. The puzzles are all differnt from each other, ranging from word problems to geometry problems.The solutions given are very complete and actually take up the largest emphasis.

I didn't expect much from a 5-dollar book, but I was pleasantly surprised. Other reviewers have already covered the quality of the book, so I won't go into those details, but I have the following suggestion for you.

Store this item in your wishlist and use it when you need a filler item to qualify for free shipping.

Highly recommend the book.