Another Fine Math You've Got Me Into--

Found this book to be very interesting which involved many different types of math game/puzzles.

Thirty five years ago my high school (Thomas Jefferson, in Federal Way, Washington) held annual competitions in mathematics. They did it in the form of a test that came bound in a small white booklet, just was a few pages long. There weren't many questions, perhaps a dozen or two (usually in the form of story problems), but they required deep thought and concentration (at least for me). I still remember the feeling of excitement and trepidation as I took the "white book" and opened it to the first problem. Several hours later I'd consider myself accomplished if I'd managed to completely answer more than half the questions. Ian Stewart's book reminds me of those tests. Here's a sampling of what's inside: 1)Mrs. Anne-Lida Worm decides she wants a new couch, and tells Mr. Worm to get it for her, while she goes shopping for a new tight for baby Wermintrude. But Anne-Lina doesn't want just any couch. She wants the biggest possible couch that can be carried down the hall in their house, and around the 90-degree hall at the end. What shape does the couch have, and how big is it? This is a truly riveting story. Will Mr. Worm solve the couch problem in time? 2)Alberto wants to conduct tests on grapes, evaluating the influence of different soils. He wants to conduct experiments to see how different soils and exposure to the sun affects the quality of wine. His land is on a hillside, though, which is narrow, so he can plant only three varieties of grape on each plot of land. How can he arrange things so that he tests all seven varieties of grapes when they are arranged so that each plot contains exactly three different species, where any two plots have exactly one variety in common, and any two varieties lie in exactly one common plot? Sixteen chapters make up this book. Though their titles are whimsical, the mathematical problems aren't. Some are still unsolved. Even though these problems fit in what would probably be called recreational mathematics, they are fiendishly cleaver with solutions, and developed insight along the way, that are at once challenging and rewarding. Here's a sample of some of other topics discussed in Stewart's book: How might one transport a lion, llama, and head of lettuce in a boat, across a lake, without leaving any two species where one might eat the other in the absence of a caretaker? How can you calculate the temperature and entropy of a curve? How can one even talk sensibly about a curve having temperature and entropy in the first place? Suppose that you need to tile a room, and the tiles come in odd shapes. Is there anyway to know if the tiling problem has a solution? Can mathematics tell us things about evolution, such as whether or not evolution comes gradually or in spurts (or both)? This is a fun, lighthearted book, but the mathematical problems and puzzles it discusses will really make you think. I enjoy reading as I exercise on my elliptical machine. I get double the sense of accom

This is one of the best recreational math books I have ever read. The humorous real life scenarios lead to deep mathematical concepts. I use this book in a class for future mathematics teachers. Hopefully, it will inspire them to make math fun for their students.

This is one of the best recreational math books I have ever read. It presents scenarios from real life that lead to real math. Humor abounds in the stories but deep mathematical concepts abond in the solutions. I use this book as a required text for a mathematics course for future teachers. Hopefully, they too can make mathematics as much fun as Mr. Stewart.

The author is the comedic equal of the team associated with the title. Puns fly fast and furious, and the slow of wit will not catch them all. A master of the verbal slapstick, his wit makes you simultaneously grin and groan. The worthy successor to Martin Gardner in writing a regular mathematics column for `Scientific American', he is the clown prince of mathematics. Some of the catchy titles and subjects are: 1. Tile and error, tiling a rectangular surface. 2. Knights of the flat torus, about knight tours of a chessboard. 3. Another vine math you've got me into, a combinatorial problem of planting several varieties of grapes in plots so that all pairs are together in one and only one plot, etc. 4. Sofa, so good, on moving a sofa through tight places. All subjects are presented with clarity and thoroughly resolved by the end of the chapter. This work is the rarest of mathematical books. It presents solid, sophisticated mathematics in a manner that people could read just for the jokes. A vine piece of work. Published in Journal of Recreational Mathematics, reprinted with permission.