Mathematical Brain-Teasers

Here you will find 150 tantalizing brain-teasers devised by one of the great contemporary inventors of mathematical puzzles. Over 100 problems are in cleverly worded story forms; coin and change problems, relative ages, time and distance problems. Many of these solutions could come up in everyday life. There are also a number of fine "alphametics", innovative letter substitutions you will find specially attractive. Here an example of the kind of mathematical teasers you will find in this book (#35. A matter of ifs): "If Sam had driven for twenty minutes less than the time he would have driven if he had driven twenty miles less than he did drive but at two-thirds the speed at which he drove, he would have driven ten miles less than he did. If he had driven twenty minutes longer than the time he would have driven if he had driven ten miles less than he did drive but at three-quarters the speed at which he drove, he would have driven twenty miles further. No more "ifs". But how far did Sam drive?" Try this mathematical brain-teaser, and if you like this one, you will definitively love this book.

Puzzles are a pleasant affliction of mine, and I am always searching out new ones to tackle. When I first read this book almost twenty years ago, I walked through all of the problems, solving most of them fairly quickly after the words were translated into the equivalent algebraic equation. However, the algebra part of the solution is not the most pleasant part of solving a puzzle. What makes a puzzle most attractive is the quality of the prose used in the description, and most of these are quite good. Some are written in the form of limericks or rhyme, which makes them as fun to read as they are to solve. When reading the book again in preparation for this review, I enjoyed the problems as much as I did the first time. If you are a fan of puzzles with style, then you will truly enjoy this book. I will no doubt read it again in another twenty years.