Knots and Borromean Rings, Rep-Tiles, and Eight Queens
Martin Gardner's Unexpected Hanging

Find new twists on knotted molecules, the hangman's paradox, cat's cradle, gambling, peg solitaire, pi and e in this book.

Martin Gardner (Author)

9780521756136, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 15 September 2014

288 pages, 137 b/w illus.
22.3 x 14.4 x 1.9 cm, 0.46 kg

'I recommend you approach this book on a Sunday afternoon, with paper and pen, a few biscuits for brain-power and a good hour to spare for puzzling. It is worth it.' Charlotte Mulcare, + plus Magazine

The hangman's paradox, cat's cradle, gambling, peg solitaire, pi and e - all these and more are back in Martin Gardner's inimitable style, with updates on new developments and discoveries. Read about how knots and molecules are related; take a trip into the fourth dimension; try out new dissections of stars, crosses and polygons; and challenge yourself with new twists on classic games.

1. The paradox of the unexpected hanging
2. Knots and Borromean rings
3. The transcendental number e
4. Geometric dissections
5. Scarne on gambling
6. The church of the fourth dimension
7. Eight problems
8. A matchbox game-learning machine
9. Spirals
10. Rotations and reflections
11. Peg solitaire
12. Flatlands
13. Chicago magic convention
14. Tests of divisibility
15. Nine problems
16. The eight queens and other chessboard diversions
17. A loop of string
18. Curves of constant width
19. Rep-tiles: replicating figures in the plane
20. Thirty-seven catch questions.

Subject Areas: Popular science [PDZ], Science: general issues [PD], Mathematics [PB]