Math hysteria : fun and games with mathematics / Ian Stewart.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Stewart, Ian, 1945-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Mathematical recreations.

Mathematics--Humor.

Mathematics.

Genre:

Humor.

Physical Description:

x, 235 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2004.

Summary:

Welcome to Ian Stewart's strange and magical world of mathematics. In Math Hysteria, Professor Stewart presents us with a wealth of intriguing, challenging, and fun puzzles, each one spun around an amazing tale: from the quirks of logic (I Know That You Know That ...) to curious numbers (Counting the Cattle of the Sun) and optimization (The Great Drain Robbery) to the practical matter of why toast falls butter-side down (The Anthropomurphic Principle). Along the way, we also meet many curious characters, including the extremely polite monks of the Perplexian order, and the stonemason Rocky Rocknuttersson and his apprentice Pnerd.

Contents:

1 I Know That You Know That... 1

2 Domino Theories 11

3 Turning the Tables 25

4 The Anthropomurphic Principle 37

5 Counting the Cattle of the Sun 47

6 The Great Drain Robbery 57

7 Two-Way Jigsaw Puzzles 73

8 Tales of the Neglected Number 85

9 Is Monopoly Fair? 95

10 Monopoly Revisited 107

11 A Guide to Computer Dating 117

12 Dividing the Spoils 127

13 Squaring the Square 143

14 The Bellows Conjecture 155

15 Purposefully Piling Pyramids 165

16 Be a Dots-and-Boxes Grandmaster 177

17 Choosily Chomping Chocolate 187

18 Shedding a Little Darkness 199

19 Preposterous Piratical Predicaments 209

20 Million-Dollar Minesweeper 217.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [227]-230) and index.

ISBN:

0198613369

OCLC:

55068092