Mathematical Puzzles of Sam Loyd

Amazing Math and Strategic Puzzles that will have you thinking for a very long time. This book is a 1959 reprint of a 1914 release. Some of the drawings are politically incorrect such as puzzle 74 where the player needs to get out of a number maze. This is one of my favorites although the caricatures of an African American farmer are antiquated from obvious racial stereotypes. THE ANSWERS ARE ACTUALLY FOUND IN THE BACK PAGES. This is an intriguing text for the difficulty of solving the questions and for the artwork which gives a good look into the mindset of American culture in 1914. One would need to research the releases of Sam Loyd's books to learn that his son was the one who Published his latter work since Sam Loyd had been deceased for three years when this text was published. Sam Loyd-1841-1911.

Interesting book of mathematical riddles.The math lover will appreciate this book.

Great puzzles

Actually I'm a big fan from the good old days. Mathematical puzzles? My Big Old love.Here we have 2 of the 3 or 4 absolute giants of the matter (put Raymond Smullyan in). Their father of them all : Sam LOYD, and, and one of the modern poetical leaders: Martin GARDNER for the selection and the edition.This compilation of the best Classical Puzzles imagined by Sam LOYD has been published several times before, and each publication brings up the same sentiment, the one you have when you meet back a good old friend. That's what happens when you fall in love with a book, and develop sweet warm memories with it.The format is 1 puzzle by page, presented each and every time by a smart story and illustrated by the drawing of the original edition, a very beautiful vintage look. I love it.There are some 200 puzzles divided into 2 volumes, they range from somehow easy to really difficult, and some of them require some basic knowledge in algebra and/or geometry, just the basics, and not all of them.This edition is a simple paperback pocket size, nothing fancy about it, in my opinion any paperback binding doesn't do justice to this book anyway, but it's the only one available I think.Me? I bought it again!

If you really like tough puzzles, that is the book and the writer that you were looking for. In one book there is enough puzzles for a human being life.The puzzle categories are also quite wide from tangram to chess problems.

Another great winter evening puzzle book to settle down to. Each puzzle has an victorian type illustration and the presentation of the puzzle itself I found entertaining. Some of the puzzles are taxing which is great. There are solutions at the back but what's the point of a puzzle I ask myself.

good collection of Sam's work

A good book

２０世紀初頭出版された米国のパズル本の代表作でしょう。１９６０年代に日本で光文社から出されてベストセラーになった「頭の体操」もこの本からかなりアイデアを借用しています。白陽社から翻訳も出されていますがやはり原書で楽しむのが一番です。紙と鉛筆、電卓まで用意して一問づつ解いてゆくのが楽しい。ただ図形に関した問題ではイラストが小さいので実際に紙と鋏で切り張りして解いてゆくには拡大機能がついたコピー機でコピーしてあれやこれやと並べ替えたりしないと不可能だと思えます。その点さえ除けば実に楽しめる本です。英語の文章も簡潔で判り易く、大学の理工学部の教養課程の英語のテキストにも最適ではと思えます。回答の解説も親切ですので数学の参考書を脇に置いて精読してください。またイラストが当時のアメリカの風俗を象徴していて眺めているだけで楽しいですね。中国人や日本人を描いたイラストなども「当時はこんなイメージで東洋人をとらえていたのか」と興味深いものがあります。英語と数学の両方の知的興味を満足させる本としてお薦めです。続編も推薦しておきます。

現在では入手困難なパズル書の古典 "Cyclopedia of Five Thousand Puzzles, Tricks and Conundrums" から、ガードナーが数理パズルを中心に選んだ全117問が収録されています。邦訳も「サム・ロイドのパズル百科」（全３巻）として出版されていましたが、現在は品切れ状態。しかし、本書と "More Mathematical Puzzles of Sam Loyd" があれば邦訳は必要なし。挿絵だけを見ているだけでも楽しめます。訳書と大きく異なるのは問題の配列。邦訳は問題の提示順がバラバラですが、原書である本書では 'Arithmetic and Algebraic Problems' とか 'Probability and Game Theory Problems' といったように各問題が分類されています。デュードニーと並ぶパズル界の巨匠であるロイドの代表作。日本の様々なパズル書の種本にもなっています。パズル好きであれば必携でしょう。