The Last Recreations: Hydras, Eggs, and Other Mathematical Mystifications

By Martin Gardner

Book Overview

Martin Gardner's Mathematical Recreations columns in "Scientific American" virtually defined the genre of popular mathematics writing for a generation. In this, the final collection of these columns,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0387949291
• ISBN13: 9780387949291
• Release Date: July 1997
• Publisher: Copernicus
• Length: 392 Pages
• Weight: 1.72 lbs.
• Dimensions: 10.0" x 1.3" x 6.5"

Customer Reviews

whoa! slow down!

Maybe its that I'm looking at the past through rose colored glasses, but when I read this I did'nt experience the same sense of wonder that I did when I was 13. Martin touches on very very cool topics, but my main gripe is that he whizzes through everything, often just giving a pointer to another book, which is great in that it encourages more exploration but is frustrating at the same time. But if you havent encountared recreational mathematics before, take a look, Martin does a wonderful job in making math FUN!

Whoah! Nostalgia!

Reading this takes me back to time spent in my school's library poring over Gardner's columns in Scientific American. Several of the columns in this book I first read as a nerdy 14 year old and was staggered then (as I am now) by the elegance and beauty of the ideas they contained. Now I read it with a far greater appreciation of the problems and ideas expressed, but that doesn't compare with the sheer sense of wonder I experienced first time around.