A renowned puzzle master and game inventor presents 315 new and traditional puzzles. 
 Longlisted, 2016 School Library Association Information Book Award 12+ 
 "A great read for anyone interested in puzzles or mathematics." --Publishers Weekly 
 "Gift Guide Selection 2015. Moscovich, a celebrated puzzle inventor, makes a compelling case for puzzle solving as a means of developing creativity and even intelligence." --American Scientist 
 "The Puzzle Universe is a quixotic, informative and enlightening encyclopedia of recreational mathematics. It should prove to be an inspiration to mathematical idlers, and a rich resource for learners and teachers who wish to be attuned to the playful and creative side of mathematics." --Mathrecreation Blog 
 The Puzzle Universe is intended for general readers and devoted puzzlers but it has also found its way into school libraries and curricula. It is about the latent beauty of mathematics, its history and the puzzles that have emerged from the science of numbers. It is full of challenging historical facts, thinking puzzles, paradoxes, illusions and problem solving. 
 A historical and pedagogical dimension sets The Puzzle Universe apart. The 315 puzzles are described in extended captions that explain in easy terms the story of the puzzles' origins and attempts to solve them, the value of puzzles to education, and the development of the mathematical sciences in light of recent research and unmet challenges. There are many profiles of great mathematicians. 
 The puzzles appear in a dynamic layout for a visual experience that is the author's trademark. There are ten chapters complete with answers. Icons rate the challenge and indicate the tools needed (pencil, scissors, ruler and, of course, your thinking cap). 
 With this book, Ivan Moscovich invites readers to join him in the puzzle universe, an edifying environment of creative discovery, problem solving and fun.

The Puzzle Universe: A History of Mathematics in 315 Puzzles

Humor & Entertainment

Moscovich, Ivan

Puzzles & Games

Firefly Books

Gathers puzzles and games involving optical illusions, logic, geometry, graphs, and chessboard problems

Ivan Moscovich's Super-Games

STEWART, Ian

St Martins Pr

Collects a variety of brain games and puzzles with problem-solving aids and solutions for the timid

Mind Benders Games of Chance

Random House, Inc.

Mind Benders: Games of Shape

Vintage

One of the world's top puzzle- and game-makers compiled this visually stunning assortment of 86 mathematical challenges. Ivan Moscovich presents his own inventions along with classic mind-bogglers from throughout history. Each promotes creative thinking, providing intellectual satisfaction as well as entertainment. These thought-provoking puzzles offer fresh insights into many concepts common to art, science, and everyday life. They include a tribute to Leonardo da Vinci that involves his famous hidden messages as well as several of his dissection dilemmas. "The Hamilton Way" concerns the problem of visiting all of the vertices of a graph, and "Catenary: The Gravity Curve" suggests a captivating experiment with a chain or a necklace. Each puzzle is accompanied by colorful graphics that help explain the underlying mathematics. Complete answers appear at the end, presenting not only solutions but also explanations that illustrate simple mathematical principles.

Leonardo's Mirror and Other Puzzles (Dover Recreational Math)

Dover Publications

Television host Monty Hall used to ratchet up the suspense on his game show, "Let's Make a Deal," by offering contestants a last-minute chance to change their minds. His nail-biting, probability-based dilemma supplies the title for this intriguing book. Assembled by one of the world's top puzzle-makers, its wealth of complex but fun-filled challenges range from riddles of ancient geometry to modern issues of traffic patterns and interstellar communications. Readers of all ages can appreciate these imaginative puzzles and their colorful characters, which include traveling salesmen, Chinese postmen, and flea circus performers. "Police Chase" examines the definition of the center of a triangle. A series of "Magic Arrow" games offer variations on the classic magic squares. And traditional topics such as Euler's problem, Ramsey theory, polar and spherical coordinates, and Golomb rulers take on fascinating new twists. A treat for the eye as well as for the mind, the puzzles are accompanied by dynamic illustrations that help define underlying mathematical concepts. Complete solutions appear at the end.

The Monty Hall Problem and Other Puzzles (Dover Recreational Math)

A treat for the eye as well as the mind, these beautifully designed and intellectually stimulating challenges were created by one of the world's most innovative puzzle makers. Ivan Moscovich presents eighty-five intriguing visual puzzles, each sprinkled with fascinating popular science facts. Suitable for puzzle lovers of all ages, this collection features classic challenges attributed to important mathematicians and philosophers: Galileo's Pendulum, Cantor's Comb, Aristotle's Wheel Paradox, and enigmas based on the work of Fibonacci, Foucault, Rott, Sierpinski, and other thinkers. Playful puzzles include Hotel Infinity, Tower Power, Lost Marbles, and Walking Dogs. For the hopelessly perplexed, complete solutions appear at the end.

Loopy Logic Problems and Other Puzzles (Dover Recreational Math)

1000 PLAYTHINKS is the most compulsive, head-scratching, and--at 5.08 pounds--gargantuan puzzle book ever. An obsessive collection of 1,000 challenges, puzzles, riddles, illusions-both original as well as must-do classics. Jam-packed on the page and illustrated throughout in full-color, with a visual for each entry, the book, opened anywhere, is like a call to action. And once started it's hard to stop, because at the end of every successfully completed game the puzzle-solver feels smart, successful, and at one with the beauty of mathematics.
 Created by Ivan Moscovich, PLAYTHINKS is the first and only book where science, math, and art puzzles all come together. Broken down by chapter, PLAYTHINKS challenges with 12 basic categories, including games of Geometry; Patterns; Numbers; Logic and Probability; and Perception. A special Bonus Round is included for die-hard puzzlers who, after all that, still haven't had enough. An easy-to-read key at the!top of each game ranks its difficulty on a scale of 1 to 10. The lie-flat spiral binding makes the hefty book completely reader-friendly. So do the answers in the back.

1,000 Playthinks: Puzzles, Paradoxes, Illusions & Games

Workman Publishing Company

Think outside the box! Card Shark, Marble Madness, Sock It to Me! &amp; Dizzy Walk In the beginning there's "Jewels of Xanadu" on the cover—where the chances of unlocking the special color-coded safe could be 1 in millions or 1 in 64, depending on where you start. And once you've survived that, another 25 mind-stretching puzzles await. 
<ul>
<li>Win a coin-toss game with three friends, calculate the real odds of winning the lottery, predict the chance of pulling the one green marble out of a box of red ones. Think like a mathematician, making sense of seemingly random events.</li>
<li>Bring a pencil, but remember—(1) you don't have to be a whiz to play, because (2) the most important skills you'll need are curiosity and an open mind. (Solutions and explanations are provided of course!)</li>
</ul>

Probability Games and Other Activities

Children's Books

Activities, Crafts & Games

Introducing MindGames, a series of conceptual puzzle and activity books for kids eight and up-and we mean up-who enjoy the challenge of solving problems and the pleasure of figuring out new ways of seeing things. Created by Ivan Moscovich, a world-renowned inventor of games, puzzles, and toys, each book comes with a three-dimensional, interactive puzzle on the cover, and dozens of full-color illustrated problems on the same theme inside. Beginning with Elevation on the cover-an ingenious progressive game involving moving the disks level by level to the top, Number Games covers geometry, symmetry, fractal points, and lines. There are magic squares, magic hexagons, magic triangles. Plus Pixel Craft. Think of a Number. The Spider Web Puzzle and Cut the Cake. The most important skills needed to solve these puzzles are curiosity and an open mind. (Solutions and explanations are provided, of course!) Also in the MindGames series: Probability Games, Network Games, Pattern Games.

MindGames: Number Games

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Books by Moscovich, Ivan