Stimulating, thought-provoking analysis of the most interesting intellectual inconsistencies in mathematics, physics, and language, including being led astray by algebra (De Morgan's paradox). 1982 edition.

Stimulating, thought-provoking analysis of the most interesting intellectual inconsistencies in mathematics, physics, and language, including being led astray by algebra (De Morgan's paradox). 1982 edition.

An examination of mathematical logic includes problems and paradoxes devised by such thinkers as Lewis Carroll, Kurt Godel, and Galileo.

Compiled by a prominent educator and author, this volume presents an intriguing mix of mathematical paradoxes — phenomena with surprising outcomes that can be resolved mathematically. Students and puzzle enthusiasts will get plenty of enjoyment mixed with a bit of painless mathematical instruction from 30 conundrums, including The Birthday Paradox, Aristotle's Magic Wheel, and A Greek Tragedy.

Take an apple and cut it into five pieces. Would you believe that these five pieces can be reassembled in such a fashion so as to create two apples equal in shape and size to the original? Would you believe that you could make something as large as the sun by breaking a pea into a finite number of pieces and putting it back together again? Neither did Leonard Wapner, author of The Pea and the Sun, when he was first introduced to the Banach-Tarski paradox, which asserts exactly such a notion. Written in an engaging style, The Pea and the Sun catalogues the people, events, and mathematics that contributed to the discovery of Banach and Tarski's magical paradox. Wapner makes one of the most interesting problems of advanced mathematics accessible to the non-mathematician.

"Math enthusiasts of all ages will delight in this collection of more than 200 riddles drawn from every mathematical discipline. Only an elementary background is needed to enjoy and solve the tremendous variety of puzzles, which include riddles based on geometry, trigonometry, algebra, infinity, probability, and logic. Includes complete solutions and 113 illustrations"--

"Originally published by Key Curriculum Press"--t.p.