The Magical Maze: Seeing the World Through Mathematical Eyes

by Ian Stewart

Book Overview

Enter the magical maze of mathematics and explore the surprising passageways of a fantastical world where logic and imagination converge. For mathematics is a maze--a maze in your head--a maze of ideas, a maze of logic. And that maze in your mind is a powerful tool for understanding an even bigger maze-he maze of cause and effect that we call "the universe." That is its special kind of magic. Real magic. Strange magic. Infinitely fascinating magic...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 047119297X
• ISBN13: 9780471192978
• Release Date: March 1998
• Publisher: Trade Paper Press
• Length: 268 Pages
• Weight: 1.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.5" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

A wonderful introduction to recreational mathematics!

Other reviewers have criticized this book for its lack of detail and mathematical depth. Although that may be true for the experienced mathematician, this is an EXCELLENT introduction to the world of recreational mathematics. This book shows that math can be fun and useful and explains it in a way that anyone can understand. I often wondered, when I was younger, where logic tied in with math... I loved logic games and puzzles, things labeled as "math games" but I hated "math" -- arithmatic is totally lame. This book completely bridges the gap between logic games and mathematics and submerses the reader in a whole new, wonderful world. However, if you are already familiar with this world it may feel kind of like watching Seseme Street -- entertaining, but attempting to teach things you learned long ago. Either way it's an entertaining and educational (for the non-mathematician) romp in the frivolities of mathematics.