The Puzzling Adventures of Dr. Ecco (Paperback)

by Dennis Shasha (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Dr. Ecco is a mathematical detective and puzzle solver. In this book readers are invited to join him in solving nearly 40 puzzles inspired by methods in computer science and mathematics, including The Tower of Lego, the Odd Doors Problem, Spies and Double Agents, Gossiping Defenders, Code Breaking and many more. No special skills needed, just a clear head and a little imagination. Solutions.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Dover Publications (July 21, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0486296156
• ISBN-13: 978-0486296159
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.7 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #887,709 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars fun with puzzles, January 13, 2003

By	Julie Satinover (Weston, CT USA) - See all my reviews

I bought The Puzzling Adventures of Dr. Ecco just before going on vacation, and was hooked before the plane took off. It is the perfect book for puzzle-lovers, including a broad range of topics across many levels of difficulty. My husband and I sat long after our lunches had been cleared on several occasions, working them out together. The author's humor and imagination in creating his characters adds to the delight of having one's brain teased (and then satisfied -- the solutions are in the back). Buy this book!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Combination of Puzzles and Operations Research, March 16, 2000

By	Charles Ashbacher "([e-mail])" (Marion, Iowa United States([e-mail])) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)

This walk on the puzzle side of life is a joyous jaunt through mathematics. The fictional Dr. Ecco, a dedicated omniheurist or puzzle solver, devotes his life to resolving the difficulties of others. The majority of the problems are in applied mathematics, and are typical of the real world. Professor Scarlet provides the narration and his serving as a foil to Dr. Ecco has much in common with the partnership of Dr. Watson and Sherlock Holmes.

The topics include coding, the flow of goods through transit points, production bottlenecks, road and mass transit construction, information transfer and conducting elections. Detailed solutions to all problems are given at the end of the book. The majority can be solved using only cleverness, although a mathematical background is certainly helpful.

Superbly narrated and with a tight grasp on life, this book is an existence proof of the premise that learning mathematics can be fun. An excellent supplemental text for any course that involves problems in operations research.

Published in Journal of Recreational Mathematics, reprinted with permission

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars unique puzzle book with computer-science-inspired problems, October 31, 2000

By	Theodore M. Alper (Palo Alto, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

What I really like about this book is its unique focus; Shasha has written problems that illustrate concepts from math and computer science, without requiring any prior background.

It's written in an entertaining style, the problems can be understood and enjoyably worked on by everyone from bright middle school students to graduate students -- and even if you have a lot of other puzzle books, many of these problems will be new to you.

My only complaint is that there aren't more puzzles here! The Dr. Ecco story-line is nicely written, and the puzzles are presented cleverly, but all that creative writing takes up a lot of space. Still, this is a small issue, I enjoyed reading the book, I loved the puzzles, and they are very easy to share with friends and students.

And of course, Dover offers it at a great price!