Puzzles and Paradoxes Fascinating Excursions in Recreational Mathematics

by O’Beirne, T. H.

• ISBN13: 9780486246130
• ISBN10: 0486246132
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2017-09-13
• Publisher: Dover Publications

Summary

Noted mathematician T. H. O'Beirne leads readers through a delightful maze of problems and solutions that are as artfully formed as any great poem or melody. Most require little mathematical knowledge, just careful logic and a playful imagination.
Each chapter presents a series of thematically related brainteasers: difficult journeys featuring unlikely passengers and inadequate transport; geometric paradoxes; pouring liquid puzzles; cube and color arrangement puzzles; and calendar paradoxes, including the mathematics and astronomy involved in the varying date of Easter. O'Beirne's emphasis on explanations prepares readers for puzzles of even greater complexity, and solutions are discussed along with the problems. In addition, an illuminating postscript contains extensive historical background and other information to enrich the understanding and appreciation of these stimulating games for the mind.

Author Biography

T. H. O'Beirne wrote a weekly column, also called "Puzzles and Paradoxes," for the British magazine New Scientist. He is the inventor of O'Beirne's Cube, a classic box-packing problem in which six irregularly shaped pieces can be packed into a cube or five other rectangular solids.

Table of Contents

Preface    ix

1. One More River to Cross    1

2. False Coins and Trial Balances   20

3. New Weighs with False Coins    33

4. Jug and Bottle Department    49

5. A Gamut of Geometry from A to Y    76

6. Race-Track Problems and Legal Fictions   88

7. Cubism and Colour Arrangements   112

8. Gamesman, Spare that Tree   130

9. 'NIM' You Say--and 'NIM' It Is   151

10. Ten Divisions Lead to Easter   168

11. Problematic Lies and Unexpected Truths   185

12. A Christmas Cracker with 100 Birds   198

Postscript   209

References   227

Index   233