Mathematics, Magic and Mystery (Dover Puzzle Books: Math Puzzles) - Softcover

9780486203355: Mathematics, Magic and Mystery (Dover Puzzle Books: Math Puzzles)
View all copies of this ISBN edition:
 
 
Why do card tricks work? How can magicians do astonishing feats of mathematics mentally? Why do stage "mind-reading" tricks work? As a rule, we simply accept these tricks and "magic" without recognizing that they are really demonstrations of strict laws based on probability, sets, number theory, topology, and other branches of mathematics.This is the first book-length study of this fascinating branch of recreational mathematics. Written by one of the foremost experts on mathematical magic, it employs considerable historical data to summarize all previous work in this field. It is also a creative examination of laws and their exemplification, with scores of new tricks, insights, and demonstrations. Dozens of topological tricks are explained, and dozens of manipulation tricks are aligned with mathematical law.Nontechnical, detailed, and clear, this volume contains 115 sections discussing tricks with cards, dice, coins, etc.; topological tricks with handkerchiefs, cards, etc.; geometrical vanishing effects; demonstrations with pure numbers; and dozens of other topics. You will learn how a Moebius strip works and how a Curry square can "prove" that the whole is not equal to the sum of its parts.No skill at sleight of hand is needed to perform the more than 500 tricks described because mathematics guarantees their success. Detailed examination of laws and their application permits you to create your own problems and effects.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

About the Author:
Martin Gardner was a renowned author who published over 70 books on subjects from science and math to poetry and religion. He also had a lifelong passion for magic tricks and puzzles. Well known for his mathematical games column in Scientific American and his "Trick of the Month" in Physics Teacher magazine, Gardner attracted a loyal following with his intelligence, wit, and imagination.

Martin Gardner: A Remembrance
The worldwide mathematical community was saddened by the death of Martin Gardner on May 22, 2010. Martin was 95 years old when he died, and had written 70 or 80 books during his long lifetime as an author. Martin's first Dover books were published in 1956 and 1957: Mathematics, Magic and Mystery, one of the first popular books on the intellectual excitement of mathematics to reach a wide audience, and Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science, certainly one of the first popular books to cast a devastatingly skeptical eye on the claims of pseudoscience and the many guises in which the modern world has given rise to it. Both of these pioneering books are still in print with Dover today along with more than a dozen other titles of Martin's books. They run the gamut from his elementary Codes, Ciphers and Secret Writing, which has been enjoyed by generations of younger readers since the 1980s, to the more demanding The New Ambidextrous Universe: Symmetry and Asymmetry from Mirror Reflections to Superstrings, which Dover published in its final revised form in 2005.

To those of us who have been associated with Dover for a long time, however, Martin was more than an author, albeit a remarkably popular and successful one. As a member of the small group of long-time advisors and consultants, which included NYU's Morris Kline in mathematics, Harvard's I. Bernard Cohen in the history of science, and MIT's J. P. Den Hartog in engineering, Martin's advice and editorial suggestions in the formative 1950s helped to define the Dover publishing program and give it the point of view which — despite many changes, new directions, and the consequences of evolution — continues to be operative today.

In the Author's Own Words:
"Politicians, real-estate agents, used-car salesmen, and advertising copy-writers are expected to stretch facts in self-serving directions, but scientists who falsify their results are regarded by their peers as committing an inexcusable crime. Yet the sad fact is that the history of science swarms with cases of outright fakery and instances of scientists who unconsciously distorted their work by seeing it through lenses of passionately held beliefs."

"A surprising proportion of mathematicians are accomplished musicians. Is it because music and mathematics share patterns that are beautiful?" — Martin Gardner

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

  • PublisherDover Publications
  • Publication date1956
  • ISBN 10 0486203352
  • ISBN 13 9780486203355
  • BindingPaperback
  • Edition number1
  • Number of pages208
  • Rating

Other Popular Editions of the Same Title

9781607964094: Mathematics, Magic and Mystery

Featured Edition

ISBN 10:  ISBN 13:  9781607964094
Publisher: BN Publishing, 2012
Softcover

Top Search Results from the AbeBooks Marketplace

Seller Image

Gardner, Martin
Published by Dover Publications 6/1/1956 (1956)
ISBN 10: 0486203352 ISBN 13: 9780486203355
New Paperback or Softback Quantity: 1
Seller:
BargainBookStores
(Grand Rapids, MI, U.S.A.)

Book Description Paperback or Softback. Condition: New. Mathematics, Magic and Mystery 0.47. Book. Seller Inventory # BBS-9780486203355

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 10.87
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: FREE
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Gardner, Martin
Published by Dover Publications (1956)
ISBN 10: 0486203352 ISBN 13: 9780486203355
New Softcover Quantity: 2
Seller:
Lakeside Books
(Benton Harbor, MI, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: New. Brand New! Not Overstocks or Low Quality Book Club Editions! Direct From the Publisher! We're not a giant, faceless warehouse organization! We're a small town bookstore that loves books and loves it's customers! Buy from Lakeside Books!. Seller Inventory # OTF-S-9780486203355

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 7.69
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 3.99
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Seller Image

Gardner, Martin
Published by Dover Publications (1956)
ISBN 10: 0486203352 ISBN 13: 9780486203355
New Softcover Quantity: 5
Seller:
GreatBookPrices
(Columbia, MD, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: New. Seller Inventory # 444639-n

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 9.23
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 2.64
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Gardner, Martin
Published by Dover Publications (1956)
ISBN 10: 0486203352 ISBN 13: 9780486203355
New Softcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
GF Books, Inc.
(Hawthorne, CA, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: New. Book is in NEW condition. Seller Inventory # 0486203352-2-1

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 13.44
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: FREE
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Gardner, Martin
Published by Dover Publications (1956)
ISBN 10: 0486203352 ISBN 13: 9780486203355
New Paperback Quantity: 8
Seller:
Save With Sam
(North Miami, FL, U.S.A.)

Book Description Paperback. Condition: New. Brand New!. Seller Inventory # 0486203352

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 13.46
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: FREE
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Gardner, Martin
Published by Dover Publications (1956)
ISBN 10: 0486203352 ISBN 13: 9780486203355
New Softcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
Book Deals
(Tucson, AZ, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: New. New! This book is in the same immaculate condition as when it was published. Seller Inventory # 353-0486203352-new

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 13.91
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: FREE
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Gardner Martin
ISBN 10: 0486203352 ISBN 13: 9780486203355
New Softcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
Majestic Books
(Hounslow, United Kingdom)

Book Description Condition: New. pp. 176. Seller Inventory # 8146029

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 5.73
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 8.20
From United Kingdom to U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Seller Image

Martin Gardner
ISBN 10: 0486203352 ISBN 13: 9780486203355
New Paperback Quantity: 1
Seller:
Grand Eagle Retail
(Wilmington, DE, U.S.A.)

Book Description Paperback. Condition: new. Paperback. Why do card tricks work? How can magicians do astonishing feats of mathematics mentally? Why do stage "mind-reading" tricks work? As a rule, we simply accept these tricks and "magic" without recognising that they are really demonstrations of strict laws based on probability, sets, number theory, topology, and other branches of mathematics. This is the first book-length study of this fascinating branch of recreational mathematics. Written by one of the foremost experts on mathematical magic, it employs considerable historical data to summarize all previous work in this field. It is also a creative examination of laws and their exemplification, with scores of new tricks, insights, and demonstrations. Dozens of topological tricks are explained, and dozens of manipulation tricks are aligned with mathematical law. Nontechnical, detailed, and clear, this volume contains 115 sections discussing tricks with cards, dice, coins, etc.; topological tricks with handkerchiefs, cards, etc.; geometrical vanishing effects; demonstrations with pure numbers; and dozens of other topics. You will learn how a Moebius strip works and how a Curry square can "prove" that the whole is not equal to the sum of its parts. No skill at sleight of hand is needed to perform the more than 500 tricks described because mathematics guarantees their success. Detailed examination of laws and their application permits you to create your own problems and effects. Famed puzzle expert explains math behind a multitude of mystifying tricks: card tricks, stage "mind reading," coin and match tricks, counting out games, geometric dissections, etc. More than 400 tricks. 135 illustrations. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability. Seller Inventory # 9780486203355

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 15.26
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: FREE
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Gardner, Martin
Published by Dover Publications (1956)
ISBN 10: 0486203352 ISBN 13: 9780486203355
New Softcover Quantity: 4
Seller:
California Books
(Miami, FL, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: New. Seller Inventory # I-9780486203355

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 17.00
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: FREE
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Gardner, Martin
Published by Dover Publications (1956)
ISBN 10: 0486203352 ISBN 13: 9780486203355
New Softcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
Ebooksweb
(Bensalem, PA, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: New. . Seller Inventory # 52GZZZ01QZGC_ns

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 17.62
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: FREE
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds

There are more copies of this book

View all search results for this book