The twenty chapters of this book are nicely balanced between all sorts of stimulating ideas, suggested by down-to-earth objects like match sticks and dollar bills as well as by faraway objects like planets and infinite random walks. We learn about ancient devices for arithmetic and about modern explanations of artificial intelligence. There are feasts here for the eyes and hands as well as for the brain.
Author(s): Martin Gardner
Series: Spectrum
Edition: Subsequent
Publisher: The Mathematical Association of America
Year: 1996
Language: English
Pages: 295
HOME......Page 0
CONTENTS......Page 9
Preface......Page 11
Introduction......Page 13
Optical Illusions......Page 17
Matches......Page 30
Spheres and Hyperspheres......Page 44
Patterns of Induction......Page 59
Elegant Triangles......Page 70
Random Walks and Gambling......Page 80
Random Walks on the Plane and in Space......Page 89
Boolean Algebra......Page 101
Can Machines Think?......Page 116
Cyclic Numbers......Page 125
Eccentric Chess and Other Problems......Page 137
Dominoes......Page 151
Fibonacci and Lucas Numbers......Page 166
Simplicity......Page 183
'The Rotating Round Table and Other Problems......Page 196
Solar System Oddities......Page 217
Mascheroni Constructions......Page 230
The Abacus......Page 246
Palindromes: Words and Numbers......Page 256
Dollar Bills......Page 267
Postscript......Page 277
Bibliography......Page 283
