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Puzzles Old and New: How to Make and Solve Them
Shows a variety of antique and modern puzzles, including puzzle locks and rings, and folding, impossible object, vanish, dexterity, sequential movement, disentanglement, interlocking, and take-apart puzzles
160 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1988
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 15, 2020
For a number of years, I collected puzzles of various sorts, and this book is a large part of the reason why. Some of the blame/credit goes to my Dad as well. He was an engineer and an inveterate fan of Martin Gardner’s books of mathematical games, so puzzles and games were something I was brought up with.
But it was poring over page after fascinating page of this book in particular that made me say, “Yes! I want to possess a collection of puzzles at least as impressive as the one depicted in the pages of this book.” It eventually became clear to me that puzzles take up a great deal of space. They're not much fun if you just pack them away in a box. They want to be displayed and handled and played with. And I was starting to realize that I’d have more money for comics, books, games, and music if I wasn't spending so much of it on puzzles. I do have a lot of cool puzzles though. And this book.
This is a prime example of a coffee table book. It's oversized and chock full of gorgeous photos of all sorts of mechanical puzzles, from precious antiques to a double page spread of Rubik’s Cubes and related puzzles and paraphernalia.
The “How to Make” portion of the subtitle is accurate. Some are easy enough to make with paper or cardboard--a set of tangrams, for instance. Others require more wood- or metalworking skills than I possess. Part of me wishes this book had existed back when I was still taking Shop classes in school … The reader is encouraged to solve various puzzles along the way, and the solutions to at least most of these are given at the back of the book.
Despite its age, this remains a fascinating book. Granted, it was a fairly significant influence on my high school and early college years, so I suppose I’m a bit biased. Definitely worth reading. Recommended!
But it was poring over page after fascinating page of this book in particular that made me say, “Yes! I want to possess a collection of puzzles at least as impressive as the one depicted in the pages of this book.” It eventually became clear to me that puzzles take up a great deal of space. They're not much fun if you just pack them away in a box. They want to be displayed and handled and played with. And I was starting to realize that I’d have more money for comics, books, games, and music if I wasn't spending so much of it on puzzles. I do have a lot of cool puzzles though. And this book.
This is a prime example of a coffee table book. It's oversized and chock full of gorgeous photos of all sorts of mechanical puzzles, from precious antiques to a double page spread of Rubik’s Cubes and related puzzles and paraphernalia.
The “How to Make” portion of the subtitle is accurate. Some are easy enough to make with paper or cardboard--a set of tangrams, for instance. Others require more wood- or metalworking skills than I possess. Part of me wishes this book had existed back when I was still taking Shop classes in school … The reader is encouraged to solve various puzzles along the way, and the solutions to at least most of these are given at the back of the book.
Despite its age, this remains a fascinating book. Granted, it was a fairly significant influence on my high school and early college years, so I suppose I’m a bit biased. Definitely worth reading. Recommended!
September 4, 2012
Good practical reference book on puzzles.
August 4, 2010
Una notevole raccolta di enigmi meccanici, con qualche errore di stampa.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews