signifies a problem to be solved.

Answers are provided at the back of

the book.
These different classes of entries should cause even the most right-
brained readers to fall in love with mathematics. Some of the zanier prob-
lems will entertain people at all levels of mathematical sophistication. As
I said, don’t worry if you cannot solve many of the puzzles in the book.
Some of them still challenge seasoned mathematicians.
One common characteristic of mathematicians is an obsession with
completeness—an urge to go back to first principles to explain their
works. As a result, readers must often wade through pages of background
before getting to the essential ingredients. To avoid this, each problem in
my book is short, at most only a few paragraphs in length. One advantage
of this format is that you can jump right in to experiment or ponder and
have fun, without having to sort through a lot of verbiage. The book is not
intended for mathematicians looking for formal mathematical explana-
tions. Of course, this approach has some disadvantages. In just a para-
graph or two, I can’t go into any depth on a subject. You won’t find much
historical context or many extended discussions. In the interest of brevity,
even the answer section may require readers to research or ponder a par-
ticular puzzle further to truly understand it.
To some extent, the choice of topics for inclusion in this book is arbi-
trary, although these topics give a nice introduction to some classic and
original problems in number theory, algebra, geometry, probability, infin-
ity, and so forth. These are also problems that I have personally enjoyed
and are representative of a wider class of problems of interest to mathe-
maticians today. Grab a pencil. Do not fear. Some of the topics in the
book may appear to be curiosities, with little practical application or pur-
pose. However, I have found these experiments to be useful and educa-
tional, as have the many students, educators, and scientists who have
written to me. Throughout history, experiments, ideas, and conclusions
that originate in the play of the mind have found striking and unexpected
practical applications.
A few puzzles come from Sam Loyd, the famous nineteenth-century
American puzzlemaster. Loyd (1841–1911) invented thousands of popular
puzzles, which his son collected in a book titled Cyclopedia of Puzzles.
I hope you enjoy the classics presented here.

Introduction 7