- Paperback: 368 pages
- Publisher: Cambridge University Press; 1 edition (Mar 19 2007)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0521700841
- ISBN-13: 978-0521700849
- Product Dimensions: 22.8 x 17.7 x 1.8 cm
- Shipping Weight: 544 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #414,378 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Details |
Product Description
Review
"Be ready for a wonderful experience as you go through the numerical adventures of Oz."
Mathematics Teacher
"Overall, this is a book of high quality puzzles...The solutions are very complete and understandable."
The Mathematical Association of America Online
"A stimulating romp through often mind-bending terrain."
Science News
"A perpetual idea machine, Clifford Pickover is one of the most creative, original thinkers in the world today."
Journal of Recreational Mathematics
"Bucky Fuller thought big, Arthur C. Clarke thinks big, but Cliff Pickover outdoes them both."
Wired
"Filled with an abundance of complex mysteries."
Paper Clips
"A must for anyone interested in puzzles, brainteasers, and mathematical oddities--particularly those who have ever wondered how many Great Pyramids could be constructed from the bricks making up a yellow-brick road extending coast to coast across the US. Recommended."
Choice
"Readers cannot deny the wit, humor, and intelligent challenges Pickover demands of them. Those who love solving puzzles will surely appreciate the whimsy and the sport."
Leonardo, 36(5), 2003
"This text with its strange mazes, bizarre consequences, and dizzying arrays of logic problems would entertain readers at all levels of mathematical sophistication... An original, fun-filled, and unusual introduction to numbers and their rules in creativity, computers, games, practical research, and adventures that teeter on the edge of logic and amusement. Certainly, fans of recreational mathematics will enjoy this text that offers a range of challenging puzzles with a detailed and plain language answer keys for all puzzles."
Medhat H. Raim, School Science and Mathematics
Mathematics Teacher
"Overall, this is a book of high quality puzzles...The solutions are very complete and understandable."
The Mathematical Association of America Online
"A stimulating romp through often mind-bending terrain."
Science News
"A perpetual idea machine, Clifford Pickover is one of the most creative, original thinkers in the world today."
Journal of Recreational Mathematics
"Bucky Fuller thought big, Arthur C. Clarke thinks big, but Cliff Pickover outdoes them both."
Wired
"Filled with an abundance of complex mysteries."
Paper Clips
"A must for anyone interested in puzzles, brainteasers, and mathematical oddities--particularly those who have ever wondered how many Great Pyramids could be constructed from the bricks making up a yellow-brick road extending coast to coast across the US. Recommended."
Choice
"Readers cannot deny the wit, humor, and intelligent challenges Pickover demands of them. Those who love solving puzzles will surely appreciate the whimsy and the sport."
Leonardo, 36(5), 2003
"This text with its strange mazes, bizarre consequences, and dizzying arrays of logic problems would entertain readers at all levels of mathematical sophistication... An original, fun-filled, and unusual introduction to numbers and their rules in creativity, computers, games, practical research, and adventures that teeter on the edge of logic and amusement. Certainly, fans of recreational mathematics will enjoy this text that offers a range of challenging puzzles with a detailed and plain language answer keys for all puzzles."
Medhat H. Raim, School Science and Mathematics
Product Description
Grab a pencil. Relax. Then take off on a mind-boggling journey to the ultimate frontier of math, mind, and meaning as acclaimed author Clifford Pickover, Dorothy, and Dr. Oz explore some of the oddest and quirkiest highways and byways of the numerically obsessed. The thought-provoking mysteries, puzzles, and problems range from zebra numbers and circular primes to Legion's number--a number so big that it makes a trillion pale in comparison. The strange mazes, bizarre consequences, and dizzying arrays of logic problems entertain readers at all levels of mathematical sophistication. The tests devised by enigmatic Dr. Oz to assess human intelligence will tease the brain of even the most avid puzzle fan. They feature a host of mathematical topics: geometry and mazes, sequences, series, sets, arrangements, probability and misdirection, number theory, arithmetic, and even several problems dealing with the physical world. With numerous illustrations, this is an original, fun-filled, and unusual introduction to numbers and their role in creativity, computers, games, practical research, and absurd adventures that teeter on the edge of logic and insanity. Clifford A. Pickover is the author of over twenty highly acclaimed books on such topics as computers and creativity, art, mathematics, black holes, human behavior and intelligence, time travel, alien life, and science fiction. Among his books are Computers, Pattern, Chaos, and Beauty (St. Martin's Press, 1990), Wonders of Numbers (Oxford University Press, 2000), Dreaming the Future (Prometheus, 2001), The Zen of Magic Squares, Circles, and Stars (Princeton University Press, 2001), The Stars of Heaven (Oxford University Press, 2001), The Paradox of God and the Science of Omniscience (Palgrave, 2002). A Ph.D. graduate of Yale University, he is a prolific inventor with dozens of patents, the associate editor for several journals, the author of colorful puzzle calendars, and puzzle contributor to adult and children's magazines. Pickover's computer graphics have been featured on the cover of many popular magazines and on T.V. shows.
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
The road through this book is chaotic and takes many turns in order to surprise and delight you. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
The road through this book is chaotic and takes many turns in order to surprise and delight you. Read the first page
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Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
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Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
What is interesting and what solvable?,
By Massimiliano Celaschi (Graffignano, Viterbo Italy) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Mathematics of Oz: Mental Gymnastics from Beyond the Edge (Hardcover)
I prefer mathematical puzzles that have two features:- they are interesting (i.e. they have that difficulty that make them worth trying to solve); - they are solvable without developing a whole new theory and without writing program code. In this book most problems that are interesting (very interesting and intriguing, I must admit) are not solvable in the foresaid sense, and most solvable ones are not interestin. Of course, a few are both. The picture sequences to be completed are very original, and sometimes difficult, examples of QI tests. However, in spite of that slight flaw, I have really enjoyed reading it. It may depends on my appreciation of Oz novels and movie, and even if this book is not likely to mark the history of mathematical entertainment, it remains a worthy reading.
5.0 out of 5 stars
A true mathematical wonderland,
By Susan Roche (Toms River, NJ) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Mathematics of Oz: Mental Gymnastics from Beyond the Edge (Hardcover)
This wonderful mathematical puzzle book has over 100 puzzles sure to delight readers -- from kids to adults. The problems include: mazes, sequences, probability, and more. Most puzzles are very clever and fun. I liked considering the yellow-brick road that crosses America. How many bricks would it take? I also liked the zebra numbers and circular primes. Legion's number is a number so big that it makes a a billion look puny.Anyone who has pondered the vastness of our mathematical universe will love this book.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Math Puzzles from another Universe!,
By Melanie Michaels (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Mathematics of Oz: Mental Gymnastics from Beyond the Edge (Hardcover)
I found the puzzles and problems in this book to be original and varied, and with a wide range of difficulty levels. I enjoyed the fact that some puzzles might actually have more than one answer, which leaves room for healthy debate and for better understanding the way different people think. I think this book can be enjoyed by readers of different levels of mathematical sophistication. For example, a freshman in high school could skip the more difficult problems, like the one on Ramanujan Congruences, although this is one of the most interesting chapters. My favorite chapter is one that poses a statistics-like question, dealing with bones thrown into a pit. You have to figure out the ratio of the long piece to the short piece. Here's a sample of other chapters that I really enjoyed:1. The Yellow-brick Road
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