Sphere Packing, Lewis Carroll, and Reversi: Martin Gardner's New Mathematical Diversions

by Martin Gardner

• ISBN13: 9780521747011
• ISBN10: 0521747015
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-07-06
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

Packing spheres, Reversi, braids, polyominoes, board games, and the puzzles of Lewis Carroll. These and other mathematical diversions return to readers with updates to all the chapters, including new game variations, mathematical proofs, and other developments and discoveries. Read about Knuth's Word Ladders program and the latest developments in the digits of pi. Once again these timeless puzzles will charm readers while demonstrating principles of logic, probability, geometry, and other fields of mathematics.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. xi
Introduction	p. xiii
The Binary System	p. 1
Group Theory and Braids	p. 11
Eight Problems	p. 23
The Games and Puzzles of Lewis Carroll	p. 38
Paper Cutting	p. 51
Board Games	p. 64
Packing Spheres	p. 80
The Transcendental Number ¿	p. 91
Victor Eigen: Mathemagician	p. 106
The Four-Color Map Theorem	p. 118
Mr. Apollinax Visits New York	p. 132
Nine Problems	p. 142
Polyominoes and Fault-Free Rectangles	p. 160
Euler's Spoilers: The Discovery of an Order-10 Graeco-Latin Square	p. 175
The Ellipse	p. 189
The 24 Color Squares and the 30 Color Cubes	p. 202
H. S. M. Coxeter	p. 216
Bridg-it and Other Games	p. 232
Nine More Problems	p. 241
The Calculus of Finite Differences	p. 261
Index	p. 275
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