My Best Mathematical and Logic Puzzles (Dover Math Games & Puzzles) Kindle Edition

I am really enjoying this short book of Martin Gardner's best logic and mathematical puzzles written for his Scientific American column. The problems range widely in difficulty, with some requiring only a few moments of reflection and other laying quite beyond my cognitive powers. The problems are entertainingly presented. Answers are provided in the back of the book; actually, more than half the length of the book is the answers section. Some readers have complained that the answers are inadequate, but I have not found this to be so. Gardner engages in name dropping, particularly in the answers section, probably to add glamour to his column. He will sometimes note "Two Harvard physics students wrote in with this solution," or "John Campbell of Astounding suggested this solution". Campbell was the famous editor who first published Asimov, Heinlein and Van Vogt, inaugurating the "Golden Age" of Science Fiction. Evidently he was smart in lots of ways! It gives a sense of group endeavor, as if everyone is working these problems. The book is short, but well worth the extremely cheap price from Dover.I wondered while reading this book whether American society as it currently exists would be capable of creating a figure like Martin Gardner. His closest analog might be the conservative columnist John Derbyshire, who is really of English provenance. While Gardner's skill set is technical in nature, I would place his work in the entertainment bracket, sort of a sweet by-product of our technico/literary education system. I'm not sure whether puzzles and brain teasers are strictly entertainment, or if they might serve a purpose similar to weight-lifting and conditioning to the athlete. No one has ever filled Gardner's shoes at Scientific American. The reason I fear is that the American education system and the general spiritual impetus of our culture as it now stands are not able to instill the simultaneous virtues in one individual. Of course, Gardner served no essential purpose--most people get by without challenging brain teasers-- but philosophically the question is worth pondering.

If you like math and want to train your brain, this book is good.

Just when I thought I was great at logic puzzles this book comes and makes me turn my brain on and think! The puzzles are mostly decent and varied in theme so there is enough content to appeal to a wide audience. I am enjoying doing the puzzles with my 13 year old daughter. My criticisms are with the kindle book having insufficient effort being put into its production. 1) each puzzle should have a link to its solution. You need to return to the content page and manually navigate to the answers then page until you find the solution. Hopefully you dont accidentally read the answer to the next puzzle. 2) puzzles are barebones. They need more illustration. 3) Hints should be included so you dont resort to the answer too quickly. 4) the solutions need more explanation and illustration. I think the author has been writing these books so long he has forgotten that the joy in puzzles lies in the journey not the answer. Nonetheless the book is going to give you days of enjoyment.

These are for math geeks, not inquisitive puzzle explorers.

A math professor turned bartender, now working at the Bar of Philosophy, serves up three shots respectively of logic, probability, and geometry whiskey... and you have to drink them all at once.If that's your style, this is your book.

It's an amazing book

I have not had enough time with the book yet to properly review it. I bought it for my 8 year old son who loves math and games. The first thing to notice is that unike other books, the text and graphics in this book are very nice and clear. That is very important when you are trying to concentrate and learn, especially for a younger person. There is another part of the books with answers, they clearly explain every problem in pretty good detail. It is a good mix of puzzles. I recommend this book, will post a better review later.

I consider myself above average in math skills, maybe even in the 90th percentile, and I had difficulty solving many of these puzzles. But that is not to say that I did not enjoy reading the solutions once I had given up on the questions. The level of difficulty of the puzzles makes it that much more rewarding when you solve one. Of course, since these puzzles have been around for years, you may have already seen some (perhaps many) of them.