Amusements in Mathematics (Paperback)

by Henry E. Dudeney (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
One of the largest puzzle collections—430 brainteasers based on algebra, arithmetic, permutations, probability, plane figure dissection, properties of numbers, etc. Intriguing, witty, paradoxical productions of one of the world’s foremost creators of puzzles. Full solutions. More than 450 illustrations.

Product Details

• Paperback: 258 pages
• Publisher: Dover Publications (June 1, 1958)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0486204731
• ISBN-13: 978-0486204734
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #723,569 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Intriguing math teasers for ages 11 up, brilliantly answered, November 28, 1998

By A Customer

This excellent collection of teasers has inferential problems in arithmetic and algebra, and includes geometry, mazes, magic squares and a lot of chess-board tours. The answers are often gems in themselves -- things mentioned in passing and left to the reader to establish -- e.g. "... of the twelve ways that eight queens can be placed on a chessboard without attacking one another..." At twelve years old I spent many an hour finding those twelve ways. There is a small problem with the age of the book, first published in 1917. You could buy an airplane for 400 pounds ($1,680) then, and the money puzzles in the first chapter assume familiarity with British pounds, shillings and pence (and ha'pennies and farthings). The Dover edition of 1958 included a preface on British coins and stamps, and another on the game of cricket, but this edition was in 8vo rather than the original quarto, making some of the diagrams very small. I received my copy in 1936, at age eleven, and have cherished it ever since. I still find challenges in it in spite of my Masters degree in Mathematical Physics!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining and Instructive Collection of Mathematical Puzzles A - Must Have for Puzzle Lovers, July 19, 2006

By	David De Sousa "The Automation and Control Guy" - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

With 430 puzzles, problems, paradoxes, and brain teasers, this book is a mammoth puzzle collection, compared with most math teasers and puzzles book available. But what is important is not the quantity, but the quality and charm of the problems presented. Each problem is presented with a full length solutions that makes the book absolutely an instructive experience for the reader. In some cases the author even discussed on how others had attacked and failed the problems.

Additionally the book is fully illustrated with clever diagrams and sketches, which make the reading even more pleasant for everyone. You, your freinds and family will spend many hours trying the vast array of puzzles prented in this book.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the classics of Puzzledom, November 17, 1999

By A Customer

Dudeney was one of the two fathers of puzzles today. Amusements in Mathematics has many of Dudeney's best puzzles. An excellent book.