This book was compiled for those who find enjoyment, entertainment and relief from worry in solving mechanical and manipulative puzzles and for the recreational leader who uses puzzles as a leisure time activity. A few can be purchased—but by including such information the title of the book would be misleading; and furthermore it's more fun to make than buy them.
This book is a facsimile reprint and may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages.
I love this book of puzzles. The writing makes you feel like your hanging out with the author, enjoying the puzzles together. There are a lot of great puzzles in here, as well as good writing. This book begins with "A word of welcome-- and of warning" from the author.
Erwin Brecher and Mike Gerrard's compilation makes it fun to think about how the world really works. Simple observations of everyday life yield puzzles dealing with light, sound, evaporation, evolution, and the entire range of physical mechanics. Included are puzzles based on humorous applications of scientific theories--or are they pseudoscientific theories? You figure it out. For example, how much damage could the Chinese really inflict on the U.S. with a shock wave created by having the entire population jump off chairs simultaneously? Some problems are easy but some solutions are surprisingly counterintuitive. You'll have to be quite the physicist to ace this.
"There is mental entertainment, magic, math, and more in this collection of classic tricks and problems."-Student Library Journal. Although referring to Townsend's 'The World's Most Challenging Puzzles,' this quote is applicable to his entire puzzle cannon. If you enjoy pitting yourself against the most challenging puzzles in existence and are a glutton for punishment, then one or all of these books are for you. Take your pick among 'The World's Trickiest,' 'Most Perplexing,' 'Most Incredible,' 'Greatest,' 'Most Amazing,' 'Most Baffling,' 'Most Challenging,' and 'Best.'
Introduction Games and Puzzles Tic-tac-toe—The Illusion of the Tall Glass—Expansion of a Bridge—The Result Is Always—Problems with Liars—The Missing Dollar—A Geometric Fallacy—Pennies and Nickels—Tricks with Coins—A Bet You Can't Lose—Proving -1 = 1—The Principle of Indifference—Sum of Irrationals—Points on a Line—The Wheel Paradox—The Shadow Puzzle—Diagonals of Squares, Cubes, and Hypercubes—Are There Really Four Dimensions?—Time Travel
