Mathematical Recreations and Essays

Mathematical Recreations and Essays is a classic book that explores the fascinating world of mathematics and its applications in various fields. Written by W.W. Rouse Ball, a renowned mathematician and historian, the book is a collection of essays and puzzles that cover a wide range of topics, from geometry and algebra to logic and probability.The book is divided into three parts. The first part contains essays on topics such as the history of mathematics, the nature of mathematical reasoning, and the role of mathematics in everyday life. The second part is a collection of mathematical puzzles, games, and problems that challenge the reader's mathematical skills and intuition. These puzzles range from simple arithmetic problems to complex geometric constructions and logical paradoxes.The third part of the book is devoted to mathematical recreations, such as card tricks, magic squares, and other entertaining mathematical diversions. These activities are designed to engage the reader's curiosity and creativity while also providing a deeper understanding of mathematical concepts and principles.Overall, Mathematical Recreations and Essays is a must-read for anyone interested in mathematics, whether as a professional mathematician or simply as a curious enthusiast. The book is accessible to readers of all levels, from beginners to advanced mathematicians, and provides a wealth of insights and inspiration for further exploration and discovery.1892. This book contains descriptions of various problems of the kind usually termed Mathematical Recreations and a few Essays on some analogous questions. Contents: Arithmetical Recreations; Geometrical Recreations; Mechanical Recreations; Chessboard Recreations; Magic Squares; Bees and Their Cells; Unicursal Problems; Kirkman's School-Girls Problem; Miscellaneous Problems; Calculating Prodigies; Cryptographs and Ciphers; String Figures; and Three Classical Geometrical Problems.This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.

H. S. M. Coxeter: Through the Looking Glass
Harold Scott MacDonald Coxeter (1907–2003) is one of the greatest geometers of the last century, or of any century, for that matter. Coxeter was associated with the University of Toronto for sixty years, the author of twelve books regarded as classics in their field, a student of Hermann Weyl in the 1930s, and a colleague of the intriguing Dutch artist and printmaker Maurits Escher in the 1950s.

In the Author's Own Words:
"I'm a Platonist — a follower of Plato — who believes that one didn't invent these sorts of things, that one discovers them. In a sense, all these mathematical facts are right there waiting to be discovered."

"In our times, geometers are still exploring those new Wonderlands, partly for the sake of their applications to cosmology and other branches of science, but much more for the sheer joy of passing through the looking glass into a land where the familiar lines, planes, triangles, circles, and spheres are seen to behave in strange but precisely determined ways."

"Geometry is perhaps the most elementary of the sciences that enable man, by purely intellectual processes, to make predictions (based on observation) about the physical world. The power of geometry, in the sense of accuracy and utility of these deductions, is impressive, and has been a powerful motivation for the study of logic in geometry."

"Let us revisit Euclid. Let us discover for ourselves a few of the newer results. Perhaps we may be able to recapture some of the wonder and awe that our first contact with geometry aroused." — H. S. M. Coxeter