The Colossal Book of Mathematics

By Martin Gardner,

Book cover of The Colossal Book of Mathematics: Classic Puzzles, Paradoxes, and Problems

Book description

Whether discussing hexaflexagons or number theory, Klein bottles or the essence of "nothing," Martin Gardner has single-handedly created the field of "recreational mathematics." The Colossal Book of Mathematics collects together Gardner's most popular pieces from his legendary "Mathematical Games" column, which ran in Scientific American for twenty-five years. Gardner's arrayā€¦

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Why read it?

1 author picked The Colossal Book of Mathematics as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

They say that Plato was not a mathematician but was a maker of mathematicians. The same could be said of Martin Gardner, a prolific author who wrote, among many other things, the ā€œMathematical Gamesā€ column for Scientific American for a quarter of a century. Although all his books are excellent, The Colossal Book of Mathematics is a great entry point to Gardnerā€™s oeuvre. It consists of what Gardner viewed as his 50 best Scientific American columns along with addenda containing updated material on each topic. With topics like topology, geometry, recreational mathematics, the infinite, and probability, each article is anā€¦

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