Number Puzzles Before the Log Fire

Draw your chair closer to the hearth and enter a world where winter evenings were brightened by curious problems and playful calculations. Numbers come alive in stories. In Number Puzzles Before the Log Fire, pioneering educator David Eugene Smith gathers a classic math puzzle book of charming, gently challenging problems once woven into his celebrated tales of long ago. From simple tricks of mental calculation to more intricate recreations in arithmetic, these math stories and riddles nurture clear thinking, patience, and joy in problem solving with numbers, turning abstract figures into friendly companions for thoughtful readers, families, and young learners. First published in the early twentieth century as a companion to Smith's beloved Number Stories of Long Ago, this vintage number puzzle collection preserves the flavour of classic classroom arithmetic and the curiosity of an age discovering modern schooling. Its historical number puzzles and recreational arithmetic puzzles offer early 1900s math puzzles that still feel fresh for bright children and reflective adults, ideal as math enrichment for kids or a thoughtful homeschool math supplement. Out of print for decades and now republished by Alpha Editions. Restored for today's and future generations. More than a reprint - a collector's item and a cultural treasure. For fans of Martin Gardner and other recreational mathematics classics, it opens a warm, old-fashioned window onto the enduring delight of playing with numbers.