The history of mathematics is filled with major breakthroughs resulting from solutions to recreational problems. Problems of interest to gamblers led to the modern theory of probability, for example, and surreal numbers were inspired by the game of Go. Yet even with such groundbreaking findings and a wealth of popular-level books exploring puzzles
Author Biography
Jennifer Beineke is professor of mathematics at Western New England University. Jason Rosenhouse is professor of mathematics at James Madison University. He is the author of The Monty Hall Problem and the coauthor of Taking Sudoku Seriously.
Reviews
One of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles for 2016 "Beineke and Rosenhouse have compiled and edited a fantastic collection of essays dealing with popular mathematics... Anybody who enjoys reading about recreation mathematics should definitely explore these writings."--Choice