New Releases by Martin Gardner

Playing with mathematical riddles can be an intriguing and fun-filled pastime — as popular science writer Martin Gardner proves in this entertaining collection. Puzzlists need only an elementary knowledge of math and a will to resist looking up the answer before trying to solve a problem. Written in a light and witty style, Entertaining Mathematical Puzzles is a mixture of old and new riddles, grouped into sections that cover a variety of mathematical topics: money, speed, plane and solid geometry, probability, topology, tricky puzzles, and more. The probability section, for example, points out that everything we do, everything that happens around us, obeys the laws of probability; geometry puzzles test our ability to think pictorially and often, in more than one dimension; while topology, among the "youngest and rowdiest branches of modern geometry," offers a glimpse into a strange dimension where properties remain unchanged, no matter how a figure is twisted, stretched, or compressed. Clear and concise comments at the beginning of each section explain the nature and importance of the math needed to solve each puzzle. A carefully explained solution follows each problem. In many cases, all that is needed to solve a puzzle is the ability to think logically and clearly, to be "on the alert for surprising, off-beat angles...that strange hidden factor that everyone else had overlooked." Fully illustrated, this engaging collection will appeal to parents and children, amateur mathematicians, scientists, and students alike, and may, as the author writes, make the reader "want to study the subject in earnest" and explains "some of the inviting paths that wind away from the problems into lusher areas of the mathematical jungle." 65 black-and-white illustrations.

This collection of essays by America''s foremost polymath delves into some of the many fascinating subjects in which Martin Gardner has had an abiding interest. Focusing primarily on literary and philosophical subjects, Order and Surprise is the sequel to the widely acclaimed Science: Good, Bad and Bogus. Some of Gardner''s best essays and reviews are included in this volume, such as:"Why Librarians Dislike Oz""The Strange Case of Robert Maynard Hutchins""H.G. Wells, ''Premature'' Anti-Communist""Orwell''s Nineteen Eighty-Four""Is Nature Ambidextrous?""Beyond Cultural Relativism""The Popperism of Sir Karl""Keeping Up With Einstein"In addition, Gardner has included many of his perceptive reviews of books by and about such authors as Franz Kafka, Thomas Wolfe, John Updike, Vance Packard, Colin Wilson, Lewis Carroll, and many others.In some cases the author has modified the original texts, sometimes restoring passages removed by editors, sometimes adding new footnotes to update the material. In many cases, Gardner has added a postscript that allows him to comment on an article or review. Like the previous anthology, this book is divided into two parts. The first contains articles in chronological order of publication; the second, book reviews in similar order.Order and Surprise represents Gardner at his best - incisive, witty, and urbane.

A noted author and science writer defends his personal attitudes toward the fundamental issues of classical philosophy, discussing the awesome mystery surrounding science and life and explaining why he considers himself a theist

Traces the development of logic machines from diagrams of logical statements to modern computers and discusses the fundamentals of mathematical logic

Reference information about the book, followed by a facsimilie.

Thirty-six science fiction stories contain brain-teasing puzzles for the reader to solve.

Contains puzzles that first baffle and then delight problem solving addicts. Grew out of a collaboration between Bob Tappay and Martin Gardner to enliven the learning of mathematics.

The Flight of Peter Fromm is a novel of ideas disguised as the biography of a young man from a Pentecostal fundamentalist background in Oklahoma, who loses his faith while a student at the University of Chicago Divinity School. His spiritual odyssey is narrated by his mentor, a professor at the divinity school - who is actually a humanist who believes neither in God nor in an afterlife. Although Peter never abandons his theism or his admiration for Jesus, he reaches a point where he feels it would be hypocritical to remain within the church and to become the evangelist he had hoped to be. The counterpoint between Peter and the narrator reflects the eternal conflict between theism and atheism. In following the changes of Peter''s beliefs, almost every aspect of Protestant theology and ethics is explored. The evolution of Peter''s faith parallels the evolution of Christian theology, from the day of Pentecost to contemporary liberal theology.

Brain-teasing mathematical puzzles accompanied by lucid explanations of the basic principles behind the solutions.

Mathematical puzzles from origami to recreational logic, from digital roots and dudeny puzzles to the diabolic square, from the golden ratio to the generalized ham sandwish theorem.

This delightful collection from the magician of math introduces readers to magic squares, the Generalized Ham Sandwich Theorem, origami, digital roots, an update of the Induction Game of Eleusis, Dudeney puzzles, the maze at Hampton Court palace, and many more mathematical puzzles and principles. "Gardner is often the clown prince of science. . . . His Mathematical Games column in Scientific American is one of the few bridges over C. P. Snow''s famous ''gulf of mutual incomprehension'' that lies between the technical and literary cultures."-Time

Challenging mathematical puzzles and tricks that may be played with cards, common objects, special equipment, drawings, and pure numbers