William Poundstone

Author profile

gender

male

website

http://home.williampoundstone.net/

twitter username

WPoundstone

genre

Nonfiction

About this author

edit data

When I was an eight-year-old boy in West Virginia, a friend of my father's gave me a paperback copy of Martin Gardner's Mathematical Puzzles & Diversions. He gave it to me because (a) it had all these logic puzzles in it, and they were "too hard" for him and (b) my father had boasted that I was a pretty bright kid. So maybe I would like it. As I thumbed through the Gardner book, it struck me as the most sophisticated, grown-up book I'd ever come across.

Half of the puzzles were about cigarettes or martinis! It seemed that way, anyhow. "Arrange six cigarettes so that each touches the other five. . ." "You have a glass of gin and a glass of vermouth and one spoon. . ." I suppose I had an inkling that t...more

See if your friends have read any of William Poundstone's books.

34 posts
William Poundstone's Blog

William Poundstone isn't a Goodreads Author (yet), but he does have a blog, so here are some recent posts imported from his feed.

Anchoring Is Back: Meet the $69 Hot Dog

Pity the summer tourist in New York, the city where everything is more expensive than it is back home. Last month, Serendipity 3, an East Side eatery popular with visitors, introduced a $69 hot dog. Call that a leading indicator: Several Manhattan restaurants introduced $100+ hamburgers prior to the 2008 meltdown, but not many have since — maybe lest the masses storm the place with pitchforks. Lik... read more »

View more on William Poundstone's website »

0 comments

•

Published on August 10, 2010 15:05 • 88 views

View all 34 posts »

combine editions
Books by William Poundstone

Average rating: 3.72 · 1,767 ratings · 318 reviews · 16 distinct works

	Prisoner's Dilemma by William Poundstone, John von Neumann (Based On Work by) 3.86 avg rating — 310 ratings — published 1992 — 12 editions	My rating:
	How Would You Move Mount Fuji?: Microsoft's Cult of the Puzzle: How the World's Smartest Companies Select the Most Creative Thinkers 3.38 avg rating — 359 ratings — published 2003 — 7 editions	My rating:
	Fortune's Formula: The Untold Story of the Scientific Betting System That Beat the Casinos and Wall Street 3.96 avg rating — 296 ratings — 4 editions	My rating:
	Priceless: The Myth of Fair Value 3.49 avg rating — 200 ratings — published 2010 — 8 editions	My rating:
	Labyrinths of Reason: Paradox, Puzzles, and the Frailty of Knowledge 3.94 avg rating — 108 ratings — published 1988 — 6 editions	My rating:
	Gaming the Vote: Why Elections Aren't Fair 3.74 avg rating — 92 ratings — published 2008 — 4 editions	My rating:
	Carl Sagan: A Life in the Cosmos 3.86 avg rating — 85 ratings — published 1999 — 2 editions	My rating:
	Big Secrets 3.90 avg rating — 72 ratings — published 1983 — 5 editions	My rating:
	Are You Smart Enough to Work at Google?: Trick Questions, Zen-like Riddles, Insanely Difficult Puzzles, and Other Devious Interviewing Techniques You ... Know to Get a Job Anywhere in the New Economy 3.52 avg rating — 79 ratings — published 2012 — 5 editions	My rating:
	Biggest Secrets 3.85 avg rating — 47 ratings — published 1993 — 2 editions	My rating: