Product Review

For two decades, self-taught mathematician Henry E. Dudeney wrote a puzzle page, "Perplexities," for The Strand Magazine. Martin Gardner, longtime editor of Scientific American's mathematical games column, hailed Dudeney as "England's greatest maker of puzzles," unsurpassed in the quantity and quality of his inventions. This compilation of Dudeney's long-inaccessible challenges attests to the puzzle-maker's gift for creating witty and compelling conundrums.
This treasury of intriguing puzzles begins with a selection of arithmetical and algebraical problems, including challenges involving money, time, speed, and distance. Geometrical problems follow, along with combinatorial and topological problems that feature magic squares and stars, route and network puzzles, and map coloring puzzles. The collection concludes with a series of game, domino, match, and unclassified puzzles. Solutions for all 536 problems are included, and charming drawings enliven the book.