In this small (but perfectly formed) hardback book, Ian Stewart introduces some of the most devilishly difficult mathematical brainteasers human beings have ever devised. Along the way, he transports us to the world of Klephtnose, the geometrical Pharaoh; Stacey Ermine, the winner of the Turnip Prize; the members of Wackingham Cricket Club; Ishtaq the Ingenious; and the eponymous Mayor of Uglyville. Each of them urgently needs our help with a little local mathematical difficulty. But fear not if their problems defeat you. The answers are at the back of the book.
Author Biography
IAN STEWART is currently Professor of Mathematics at Warwick University. He is an active popularizer of mathematics and related areas of science. In 1995 he was awarded the Royal Society's Michael Faraday Medal for furthering the public understanding of science; his book Nature's Numbers was shortlisted for the 1996 Rhone-Poulenc Prize for Science Books and The Science of Discworld (co-authored with Terry Pratchett and Jack Cohen) spent 13 weeks in the top 10 of the Sunday Times non-fiction bestseller list He is the mathematics consultant for New Scientist, and has been a consultant for Encyclopaedia Britannica. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2001. The Mayor Of Uglyville's Dilemma was published by Atlantic Books in 2005.
