Penrose Tiles to Trapdoor Ciphers: And the Return of Dr Matrix (Spectrum)

Here is another collection drawn from Martin Gardner's 'Mathematical Games' column in Scientific American. Each chapter explores a different theme, for example fractals, surreal numbers, the sculptures of Berrocal, tiling the plane, Ramsey theory and code breaking, all combining to create a rich diet of recreational mathematics. Most chapters can be readily understood by the uninitiated: at each turn there are challenges for the reader and a wealth of references for further reading. Gardner's clarity of style and ability systematically to simplify the complex make this an excellent vehicle in which to start or continue an interest in recreational mathematics. HOME......Page 0 CONTENTS......Page 8 Preface......Page 10 Penrose Tiling......Page 11 Penrose Tiling II......Page 29 Mandelbrot's Fractals......Page 41 Conway's Surreal Numbers......Page 59 Back from the Klondike and Other Problems......Page 73 The Oulipo......Page 88 The Oulipo II......Page 103 Wythoff's Nim......Page 111 Pool-Ball Triangles and 0ther Problems......Page 127 Mathematical Induction and Colored Hats......Page 145 Negative Numbers......Page 158 Cutting Shapes into N Congruent Putts......Page 171 Trapdoor Ciphers......Page 192 Trapdoor Ciphers II......Page 203 Hyperbolas......Page 213 The New Eleusis......Page 227 Ramsey Theory......Page 238 From Burrs to Berrocal......Page 255 Sicherman Dice, the Kruskal Count and 0ther Curiosities......Page 271 Raymond Smullyan's Logic Puzzles......Page 287 The Return of Dr. Matrix......Page 299 Postscript......Page 313 Name Index......Page 321 Each chapter in this Gardner collection explores a different theme; for example fractals, surreal numbers, the sculptures of Berrocal, tiling the plane and code breaking. Gardner's clarity of style and ability to explain make this an excellent vehicle in which to start or continue an interest in recreational mathematics. A collection of some of Gardner's "Mathematical Games" columns from twenty-five years of Scientific American. New material included in a bibliography and a postscript