(Ebook) Mathematics, Magic and Mystery by Gardner, Martin ISBN 9781607964094, 1607964090

(Ebook) Mathematics, Magic and Mystery by Gardner, Martin ISBN 9781607964094, 1607964090

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. Probability, sets, theory of numbers clearly explained. Also, more than 400 tricks, guaranteed to work, that you can do. 135 illustrations.
This was arguably the first book aimed at the general public which combined
mathematics and magic, but it wasn't the first time he'd written about the
connection between the two. The book actually grew out of some related earlier
writing of Martin's for Scripta Mathematica.

In a Mar 2006 interview published online at MAA.org in
"Martin Gardner's Magic Spells" (Oct 2006), Martin revealed, "When I was
living in New York, I use to go to a gathering of mathematicians at Yeshiva
University, and it was a gathering that was run by a fellow named Jekuthiel
Ginsburg who edited Scripta Mathematica, a magazine devoted to history of
mathematics. He found out that I was interested in mathematical magic and asked
me to do a series of articles, for Scripta. So I did a series of pieces,
one on card tricks and one on dice tricks and on miscellaneous objects and so on,
and I put those together and that became a book."

The result was a fine collection of the kind of magical entertainmment to be had
with dice, dominoes, calendars, magic squares, watches, paper money, coins,
matches, and checkerboards, much of it mathematical in nature, alongside
topological tricks with afghan bands, handkerchiefs, string and rope, clothing,
and rubber bands, and also geometrical vanishes, fibonacci numbers, and a variety
of arithmetic tricks.
He was able to include some top-notch recent material, e.g., effects of Bob Hummer,
thanks to his long-standing relationships with magicians in Chicago and New York.

The book's title and spirit serve as inspiration for Math Awareness Month (Apr 2014).

http://martin-gardner.org/MMM.html