A great way to have fun and build brain power, Brain Teasers offers a variety of games to delight and challenge even the most advanced puzzler. Welcome to Brain Teasers. You’ll be trying to solve a sequence of puzzles for which you will be scored. The resulting total will determine how big your brain is, and how well you use it. The puzzles will tend to get harder and harder as you progress further. Brain Teasers shows off some outrageously fun new mindbenders, like: Anasearches (a combination of an anagram, a crossword, and a word search), Numberlockers (think of a crossword puzzle with numbers instead of words), Alphabetics (a miniature crossword puzzle that uses each letter of the alphabet exactly once). And more! Perfect for anyone who sits down with the New York Times crossword puzzle every morning or works through Sudoku puzzles on the way home, this book is guaranteed to excite your mind and jump-start your brain.
"A gem…An unforgettable account of one of the great moments in the history of human thought." —Steven Pinker Probing the life and work of Kurt Gödel, Incompleteness indelibly portrays the tortured genius whose vision rocked the stability of mathematical reasoning—and brought him to the edge of madness.
Infinity is an intriguing topic, with connections to religion, philosophy, metaphysics, logic, and physics as well as mathematics. Its history goes back to ancient times, with especially important contributions from Euclid, Aristotle, Eudoxus, and Archimedes. The infinitely large (infinite) is intimately related to the infinitely small (infinitesimal). Cosmologists consider sweeping questions about whether space and time are infinite. Philosophers and mathematicians ranging from Zeno to Russell have posed numerous paradoxes about infinity and infinitesimals. Many vital areas of mathematics rest upon some version of infinity. The most obvious, and the first context in which major new techniques depended on formulating infinite processes, is calculus. But there are many others, for example Fourier analysis and fractals. In this Very Short Introduction, Ian Stewart discusses infinity in mathematics while also drawing in the various other aspects of infinity and explaining some of the major problems and insights arising from this concept. He argues that working with infinity is not just an abstract, intellectual exercise but that it is instead a concept with important practical everyday applications, and considers how mathematicians use infinity and infinitesimals to answer questions or supply techniques that do not appear to involve the infinite. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.
A dynamic exploration of infinity In Infinity and the Mind , Rudy Rucker leads an excursion to that stretch of the universe he calls the “Mindscape,” where he explores infinity in all its forms: potential and actual, mathematical and physical, theological and mundane. Using cartoons, puzzles, and quotations to enliven his text, Rucker acquaints us with staggeringly advanced levels of infinity, delves into the depths beneath daily awareness, and explains Kurt Gödel’s belief in the possibility of robot consciousness. In the realm of infinity, mathematics, science, and logic merge with the fantastic. By closely examining the paradoxes that arise, we gain profound insights into the human mind, its powers, and its limitations. This Princeton Science Library edition includes a new preface by the author.
Logic is often perceived as having little to do with the rest of philosophy, and even less to do with real life. In this lively and accessible introduction, Graham Priest shows how wrong this conception is. He explores the philosophical roots of the subject, explaining how modern formal logic deals with issues ranging from the existence of God and the reality of time to paradoxes of probability and decision theory. Along the way, the basics of formal logic are explained in simple, non-technical terms, showing that logic is a powerful and exciting part of modern philosophy. In this new edition Graham Priest expands his discussion to cover the subjects of algorithms and axioms, and proofs in mathematics. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.
With this fascinating volume, Keith Devlin proves that the guiding principles of some of the most mysterious mathematical topics can be made comprehensible. Writing with an elegant lucidity, Devlin shows just why the definition of mathematics as "working with numbers" has been out of date for nearly 2,500 years. And he demonstrates that far from being too abstract to matter, mathematics is instead an essential and uniquely human endeavor, one that helps us understand the universe and ourselves. In this century alone, there has been a veritable explosion of mathematical activity. A body of knowledge that in 1900 might have filled 80 volumes now would require nearly 100,000. Fields such as algebra and topology have grown tremendously, while complexity theory, dynamical systems theory, and other new areas have developed. And in the last two decades, a common thread running through the many facets of mathematics has been recognized: mathematicians of all kinds now see their work as the study of patterns - real or imagined, visual or mental, arising from the natural world or from within the human mind. Devlin uses this basic definition as his central theme, revealing the search for patterns that drives the mathematics of counting (natural numbers), reasoning (language and logic), motion (calculus), shape (geometry, tilings), and position (topology, knots, symmetry). Interweaving historical highlights and current developments, and using a minimum of formulas, he lets readers see into the kind of reasoning that allows mathematicians to create and explore arcane subjects. And he makes clear the many ways mathematics informs our perceptions of reality - both the physical, biological, and social worlds without, and the realm of ideas and thoughts within. "Mathematics, rightly viewed, possesses not only truth, but supreme beauty," the noted philosopher and mathematician Bertrand Russell once wrote. In Mathematics: The Science of Patterns, Keith Devlin makes such a vision accessible, entertaining, and meaningful. It is an insightful, richly illustrated celebration of the simplicity, the precision, the purity, and the elegance of mathematics.
Have you daydreamed of being approached to be a secret agent? Imagined yourself being propelled into the dangerous and elegant world of spies? Blending extraordinary and illuminating historical tales of the British Secret Intelligence Service from over the years with a wide range of mind-twisting puzzles, Secret Agent Brainteasers will test your mental agility to discover: Do YOU have what it takes to be a spy? Long gone are the days when the tap on the shoulder was largely a result of social connections. Now the secret intelligence services have cast their nets wider, and it's your chance to join the ranks. Whether you have a linguistic flair, an instinct for technology, or good old common sense, pit your wits against some of the greatest minds of our time with ingenious brainteasers including secret languages, sabotage-themed brain bogglers, and hidden codes.
This is the fifith in the series BIO OF A SPACE TYRANT, featuring the stages in the life of Hope Hubris, the Tyrant of Jupiter, and his beloved sister Spirit.
This is the fifith in the series BIO OF A SPACE TYRANT, featuring the stages in the life of Hope Hubris, the Tyrant of Jupiter, and his beloved sister Spirit.
The Duodoxy is a 400,000 word long philosophical disquisition and the second of twelve disquisitions forming The Omnidoxy solely authored by the mononymous philosopher and founder of Astronism, Cometan. The Duodoxy comprises of one hundred and forty different discourses and introduces a plethora of new words, concepts, disciplines of study, and belief orientations. The topics addressed in these discourses differ vastly from the introduction of the Millettic approach to logic, the different forms and structures of philosophies, comparisons of philosophies to religions and ideologies, as well as outlining the theoretical foundations of how Astronism is to be disseminated globally which is addressed in the discourse focusing on the nature of promulgation and its management. The Duodoxy is also colloquially referred to as The Everything Disquisition due to the fact that it encompasses such a wide range of branches of philosophy, the most prominent one of which of course remains logic, upon which all of the ideas and theories presented in The Duodoxy are predicated. Additionally, The Duodoxy is said to provide the philosophy of Astronism with its ornamentation for The Duodoxy comprises of such a wide range of topics that without its presence, Astronism would not have developed as it has to become a philosophy with its own distinct physical and conceptual features and beliefs. At its heart, The Duodoxy is the introducer and outliner of Millettarian/Millettic/Astronic logic and under this auspice, Cometan has formulated, with the use of a new philosophical language, a new logical approach to understanding The Cosmos from the perspective of humanity as a whole as well as from our own personal individual perspectives.
If you pride yourself on thinking outside the box, then you'll love The Everything Lateral Thinking Puzzles Book! With hundreds of fun and imaginative problems for avid puzzlers like you, this all-in-one guide presents ridiculous scenarios that you can actually solve with simple common sense-and a little creativity! Organized by puzzle type and subject matter, simple and challenging riddles abound in this interactive book. Whether you're a beginner or a seasoned expert, you'll test your wits with such tantalizing puzzles as this one: Puzzle: A doctor mixed a batch of medicine for his client and then drank it down himself. Why? Clues: 1. It tasted good! 2. It worked better with a straw. Solution: Coca-Cola was invented when a doctor was mixing headache medication to taste good. The approval board found that the medicine tasted better than it worked, so they carbonated the liquid and then marketed it!
Pit your wits against the brilliant minds of Scotland Yard and see if you have what it takes to solve dozens of the world's toughest crimes. "Scotland Yard" conjures up so much more than just London's Metropolitan Police. Since it opened its doors in 1829, Scotland Yard has been synonymous the world over with the highest level of detective work and famous for its ability to solve the most macabre of murders and catch the most audacious of thieves. The Scotland Yard Puzzle Book mines the history of this famous institution to recreate some of the most complex conundrums its detectives have ever faced. Armchair detectives can now try their hand and keen powers of observation and deduction to solve for themselves dozens of the most difficult and challenging cases. Activities include: Anagrams and cryptograms Logic, linguistic, and mathematical puzzles Map puzzles Coded and visual puzzles Brainteasers Hidden messages And more (answers are provided in the back of the book)!