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Henry Ernest Dudeney
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Amusements in Mathematics (Dover Recreational Math) Paperback – June 1, 1958

by Henry E. Dudeney (Author)
4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 573 ratings
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The legion of H. E. Dudeney fans needs no introduction to the first American edition of this endlessly entertaining and instructive volume of mathematical amusements. New readers will be delighted with the 430 puzzles, problems, paradoxes, and brain-teasers presented by a master of mathematical ingenuity.
Virtually every sort of mathematical or logical poser is included in this extraordinary collection — problems concerning the manipulation of numbers; unicursal and route problems; moving counter puzzles; locomotion and speed problems; measuring, weighing, and packing problems; clock puzzles; combination and group problems. Greek Cross puzzles, problems involving the dissection or superimposition of plane figures, points and lines problems, joiner's problems, and crossing river problems severely test the geometrical and topological imagination. Chessboard problems, involving the dissection of the board or the placement or movement of pieces, age and kinship problems, algebraical and numerical problems, magic squares and strips, mazes, puzzle games, and problems concerning games will give you an unparalled opportunity to exercise your logical, as well as your mathematical agility.
Each problem is presented with Dudeney's unique urbane wit and sense of paradox, and each is provided with a clearly-written solution — and often with an amusing and instructive discussion of how others tried to attack it and failed. Most of the problems are original creations — but Dudeney has also included many age-old puzzlers for which he has discovered new, surprising, and usually simpler, solutions.
"Not only an amusement but a revelation … "— THE SPECTATOR.
"The best miscellaneous collection of the kind …"— NATURE.
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  1. Reading age
    12 years and up
  2. Print length
    288 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Dimensions
    5.5 x 0.75 x 8 inches
  5. Publisher
    Dover Publications
  6. Publication date
    June 1, 1958
  7. ISBN-10
    0486204731
  8. ISBN-13
    978-0486204734
  9. See all details
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Dover Publications; reprint edition (June 1, 1958)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 288 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0486204731
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0486204734
  • Reading age ‏ : ‎ 12 years and up
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 9.7 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.75 x 8 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 573 ratings

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Henry Ernest Dudeney

Henry Ernest Dudeney

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Customer reviews

4 out of 5 stars
4 out of 5
We don’t use a simple average to calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star. Our system gives more weight to certain factors—including how recent the review is and if the reviewer bought it on Amazon. Learn more
573 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Nick
5.0 out of 5 stars A great free puzzle book
Reviewed in the United States on October 9, 2010
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If I were a math teacher or had kids, this book would be worth good money despite its age. There's a collection of a few hundred math problems, involving money, time, families and other situations. They're good brain teasers.

The book doesn't have the greatest formatting for the Kindle. There are a few errors and it lacks a table of contents and proper markup, but it still works well. The only "downside" I have is that some of the math puzzles are a bit difficult when older British money was used, when the problem is compounded by the fact that you had to use shillings and pence were used, and you mention that you have a half crown and threepence in order to buy something. It's a little confusing but there's a table of conversions in the beginning.
4 people found this helpful
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Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Relevant and enjoyable
Reviewed in the United States on June 14, 2023
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The content is relevant, applicable , engaging and activates my mind as I find the solutions. I will be recommending this book to my friends.
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A. Ball
4.0 out of 5 stars Fun, but from a different era.
Reviewed in the United States on July 19, 2014
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It's fun, but the problems date from the late 1800s or early 1900s and the problems dealing with money are in the British system of pounds, shillings, and pence. There is a glossary of necessary terminology, but I found some of the problems nearly impossible to solve, not because of the mathematics, but because I was unsure what coin denominations were in circulation back then. Modern citizens of Great Britain may have the same problem because they have since gone to the decimal system for their coinage.

A few of the problems are also definitely non-politically correct, including one that nominally dealt with Chinese coinage in which three different kinds of coins are specified in terms of a standard amount called a "ching-chang" in the text. There aren't very many such problems, but a few may be offensive to some people.
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Razor
3.0 out of 5 stars It's okay. . .
Reviewed in the United States on January 11, 2014
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This book would have been exactly what I was looking for but the currency is all in old British currency! I know that not everyone is going to use the American system (and I'm not being ethnocentric), it's just that I had to look up all of the values of British currency to be able to do most of the riddles. Furthermore, some of them actually require you to physically have experienced the coins in order to do the riddle (as they are about recalling size).

It's probably not a fault of the book, but my point is that being in contemporary society is going put you at a disadvantage to solving a lot of the riddles.
4 people found this helpful
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stargazing fisherman
5.0 out of 5 stars delightful puzzles
Reviewed in the United States on November 16, 2010
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I have no expectations regarding formatting of free kindle books, and this one did not disappoint. That said, I totally love these puzzles, particularly the ones involving Brittish currency--they add a degree of difficulty that stretches me to the max--and yet you can always move on to the next one and try again. The age puzzles are somewhat easier and probably a better place to begin.
4 people found this helpful
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Dakkumen
1.0 out of 5 stars Why are there no Illustrations in the Qontro Classic Books (July 12, 2010) version?
Reviewed in the United States on September 29, 2011
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The reviews for this book appear to be a combination of the reviews for three versions: (1) kindle, (2) Qontro Classic Books (July 12, 2010), and (3) CreateSpace (February 28, 2011).

I purchased the the Qontro Classic Books (July 12, 2010) version and found that this version is almost completely useless - similar to the Kindle version - as there are NO illustrations which are relevant to many of the problems and answers.

I'll likely end up throwing the Qontro Classic Books (July 12, 2010) version in the trash and buying the CreateSpace (February 28, 2011) version.
6 people found this helpful
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Philip S. Auchincloss
5.0 out of 5 stars A mind stretcher
Reviewed in the United States on October 31, 2013
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Love the puzzles in this book. The language and the views of British culture are wonderful. Dudeney writes interesting puzzles stories that require considerable effort to solve. I am really enjoying the challenge. A great buy for anyone interested in math puzzles.
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Peg Fisher
5.0 out of 5 stars Mathematics
Reviewed in the United States on July 9, 2016
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A great resource for mathematics curiosity. I will use it for a classroom reading choice for students who ask for more.
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Top reviews from other countries

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Sameer Raghvani
5.0 out of 5 stars Good to go
Reviewed in India on September 28, 2023
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Good to go
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Lucimar
3.0 out of 5 stars Amusements in Mathematics
Reviewed in Brazil on September 14, 2018
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Livro com ótima impressão. Encadernação sujeita a soltar folhas. As folhas foram apenas coladas e não amarradas (não costuradas). Caso venha a se soltarem, a solução seria colocar espiral. É o que pude perceber no acabamento. Me corrigem se estiver enganado. Versão digital seria mais em conta nesse caso.
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Lucimar
3.0 out of 5 stars Amusements in Mathematics
Reviewed in Brazil on September 14, 2018
Livro com ótima impressão. Encadernação sujeita a soltar folhas. As folhas foram apenas coladas e não amarradas (não costuradas). Caso venha a se soltarem, a solução seria colocar espiral. É o que pude perceber no acabamento. Me corrigem se estiver enganado. Versão digital seria mais em conta nesse caso.
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Susie Jameson
5.0 out of 5 stars A classic puzzle book
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 1, 2019
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Many of today’s puzzle stem from these, others have taken these ideas and developed them into new puzzles. Studying these puzzles helps you tackle other ones. You do need to adapt to older money and measuring system, which adds another dimension to the challenge. Highly recommended for puzzle enthusiasts.
One person found this helpful
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John Nicholson
3.0 out of 5 stars Problems
Reviewed in Australia on May 7, 2017
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Amusements in Mathematics in the e-book format lacks the illustrations in the solutions where there is supposed to be some. Otherwise the problems are complex and intriguing.
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Chesley Mesher
3.0 out of 5 stars Three Stars
Reviewed in Canada on March 29, 2015
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OK
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