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Mathematical Brainteasers with Surprising Solutions
Proves that math can be serious fun!
If you like any kind of game at all, you'll enjoy the amazing mathematical brainteasers in this entertaining book. No special mathematics training is needed.
With an emphasis on puzzling word problems with surprising solutions, the author presents his mathematical hurdles in order of increasing difficulty. Many appear deceptively simple, such as: How many quarter-inch marks are on an unusual sixteen-inch ruler? Or: If the cost of a bottle and a cork is $1.10 and the bottle costs $1.00 more than the cork, how much did the bottle alone cost? Check the answers before you decide that these are too easy. You may be surprised.
Novices may want to begin with some of the teasers in the first "easy" section. More experienced math-heads may want to test their wits with the "challenging" or even the "difficult" sections (some are fiendishly difficult). Including word problems by famed mathematical puzzle geniuses Sam Loyd (1841 - 1911) and Henry Ernest Dudeney (1857 - 1930), which have entertained recreational math aficionados for more than a century, this book has something for puzzle solvers at any level. And for the math phobic, it may whet your appetite to delve into a subject you thought could only be boring.
If you like any kind of game at all, you'll enjoy the amazing mathematical brainteasers in this entertaining book. No special mathematics training is needed.
With an emphasis on puzzling word problems with surprising solutions, the author presents his mathematical hurdles in order of increasing difficulty. Many appear deceptively simple, such as: How many quarter-inch marks are on an unusual sixteen-inch ruler? Or: If the cost of a bottle and a cork is $1.10 and the bottle costs $1.00 more than the cork, how much did the bottle alone cost? Check the answers before you decide that these are too easy. You may be surprised.
Novices may want to begin with some of the teasers in the first "easy" section. More experienced math-heads may want to test their wits with the "challenging" or even the "difficult" sections (some are fiendishly difficult). Including word problems by famed mathematical puzzle geniuses Sam Loyd (1841 - 1911) and Henry Ernest Dudeney (1857 - 1930), which have entertained recreational math aficionados for more than a century, this book has something for puzzle solvers at any level. And for the math phobic, it may whet your appetite to delve into a subject you thought could only be boring.
208 pages, Paperback
Published November 12, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 4 reviews
March 22, 2023
3.5 stars. Humbling to say the least
April 16, 2023
Author Owen O'Shea collected 121 puzzles and brainteasers with counterintuitive solutions. O'Shea draws the puzzles from various sources.
I encountered some of these puzzles before, or at least the general idea behind them. None of the puzzles require advanced mathematics.
The book makes for a good collection. Thanks for reading my review, and see you next time.
I encountered some of these puzzles before, or at least the general idea behind them. None of the puzzles require advanced mathematics.
The book makes for a good collection. Thanks for reading my review, and see you next time.
October 19, 2023
This is an interesting and fun book of mathematical and logic puzzles which are mostly surprising. Some questions require a rudimentary understanding of geometry and algebra but most don't require advanced ability. But some puzzles aren't that intuitive. The biographies at the end remind the reader the seedier side of the math puzzles world.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 4 reviews