Book cover of Hexaflexagons, Probability Paradoxes, and the Tower of Hanoi

Book description

Paradoxes and paper-folding, Moebius variations and mnemonics, fallacies, magic squares, topological curiosities, parlor tricks, and games ancient and modern, from Polyominoes, Nim, Hex, and the Tower of Hanoi to four-dimensional ticktacktoe. These mathematical recreations, clearly and cleverly presented by Martin Gardner, delight and perplex while demonstrating principles of logic, probability,…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Hexaflexagons, Probability Paradoxes, and the Tower of Hanoi as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Over many years, Martin Gardner authored a column on popular mathematics for Scientific American and a series of popular books. His writings also helped change my life, showing me how exciting and marvelous mathematics can be. 

He illuminated how mathematics underlies nature—from the patterns and shapes of petals and leaves to the weather—and much of our daily lives. He illustrated how geodesic and other domes stand up without support structures in the middle, how past and secret military codes work, and how simple paper cutouts can have seemingly magical properties and reveal paradoxes.

From Robert's list on making scientific discoveries.

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Book cover of December on 5C4

December on 5C4 by Adam Strassberg,

Magical realism meets the magic of Christmas in this mix of Jewish, New Testament, and Santa stories–all reenacted in an urban psychiatric hospital!

On locked ward 5C4, Josh, a patient with many similarities to Jesus, is hospitalized concurrently with Nick, a patient with many similarities to Santa. The two argue…

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