Mathematics, Magic and Mystery (eBook)

Martin Gardner was a renowned author who published over 70 books on subjects from science and math to poetry and religion. He also had a lifelong passion for magic tricks and puzzles. Well known for his mathematical games column in Scientific American and his "Trick of the Month" in Physics Teacher magazine, Gardner attracted a loyal following with his intelligence, wit, and imagination. Martin Gardner: A Remembrance The worldwide mathematical community was saddened by the death of Martin Gardner on May 22, 2010. Martin was 95 years old when he died, and had written 70 or 80 books during his long lifetime as an author. Martin's first Dover books were published in 1956 and 1957: Mathematics, Magic and Mystery, one of the first popular books on the intellectual excitement of mathematics to reach a wide audience, and Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science, certainly one of the first popular books to cast a devastatingly skeptical eye on the claims of pseudoscience and the many guises in which the modern world has given rise to it. Both of these pioneering books are still in print with Dover today along with more than a dozen other titles of Martin's books. They run the gamut from his elementary Codes, Ciphers and Secret Writing, which has been enjoyed by generations of younger readers since the 1980s, to the more demanding The New Ambidextrous Universe: Symmetry and Asymmetry from Mirror Reflections to Superstrings, which Dover published in its final revised form in 2005. To those of us who have been associated with Dover for a long time, however, Martin was more than an author, albeit a remarkably popular and successful one. As a member of the small group of long-time advisors and consultants, which included NYU's Morris Kline in mathematics, Harvard's I. Bernard Cohen in the history of science, and MIT's J. P. Den Hartog in engineering, Martin's advice and editorial suggestions in the formative 1950s helped to define the Dover publishing program and give it the point of view which — despite many changes, new directions, and the consequences of evolution — continues to be operative today. In the Author's Own Words:"Politicians, real-estate agents, used-car salesmen, and advertising copy-writers are expected to stretch facts in self-serving directions, but scientists who falsify their results are regarded by their peers as committing an inexcusable crime. Yet the sad fact is that the history of science swarms with cases of outright fakery and instances of scientists who unconsciously distorted their work by seeing it through lenses of passionately held beliefs." "A surprising proportion of mathematicians are accomplished musicians. Is it because music and mathematics share patterns that are beautiful?" — Martin Gardner

Preface1. Tricks with Cards--Part I The Curiosities of Peirce The Five Poker Hands Tricks Using Cards as Counting Units The Piano Trick The Estimated Cut Tricks Using the Numerical Values Findley's Four-card Trick A Baffling Prediction Henry Christ's Improvement The Cyclic Number The Missing Card Jordan's Method Tricks Based on Division of Colors and Suits Stewart James' Color Prediction The Royal Pairs Tricks Using Front and Back Matching the Colors Hummer's Reversal Mystery The Little Moonies2. Tricks with Cards--Part II O'Connor's Four-ace Trick The Magic of Manhattan Predicting the Shift The Keystone Card Discovery Two-pile Location Spelling the Spades Elmsley's Card Coincidence Magic by Mail Belchou's Aces The Tit-Tat-Toe Trick Other Tricks of Interest3. From Gergonne to Gargantua Naming the Position of the Card Bringing the Card to a Named Position Walker's Method Naming the Card Relation to Ternary System Gargantua's Ten-pile Problem4. Magic with Common Objects Dice Guessing the Total Frank Dodd's Prediction Positional Notation Tricks Hummer's Die Mystery Dominoes The Break in the Chain The Row of Thirteen Calendars Magic Squares Gibson's Circled Dates Stover's Prediction Calendar Memorizing Watches Tapping the Hours Die and Watch Mystery Dollar Bills Heath's Bill Trick Matches The Three Heaps Match Folder Mind-Reading The Tramps and Chickens The Purloined Objects Coins The Nine Mystery Which Hand? Heath's Variation Heads or Tails? Checkerboards Hummer's Checker Trick Miscellaneous Objects Hummer's Three-Object Divination Yates' Four-Object Divination5. Topological Tomfoolery The Afghan Bands Handkerchief Tricks Finger Escape Tabor's Interlocked Handkerchiefs Knotty Problems String and Rope Garter Tricks The Giant's Garter More String Tricks Clothing The Puzzling Loop Reversing the Vest Removing the Vest Rubber Bands The Jumping Band The Twisted Band6. Tricks with Special Equipment Number Cards Window Cards Sam Lloyd's Version Tap Tricks Crazy Time "Heath's "Tappit" Tap-a-Drink Tap-an-Animal The Riddle Card Dice and Domino Tricks "Heath's "Di-Ciphering" Sure-Shot Dice Box Blyth's Domino Box Blocks of India Hummer Tricks7. Geometrical Vanishes--Part I The Line Paradox Sam Lloyd's Flag Puzzle The Vanishing Face "Get Off the Earth" DeLand's Paradox The Vanishing Rabbit Stover's Variations8. Geometrical Vanishes--Part II The Checkerboard Paradox Hooper's Paradox Square Variation Fibonacci Series Langman's Version Curry's Paradox Curry Triangles Four-piece Squares Three-piece Squares Two-piece Squares Curved and 3-D Forms9. Magic with Pure Numbers Rapid Cube Root Extraction Adding a Fibonacci Series Predicting a Number Curry's Version Al Baker's Version Divining a Number The Mysteries of Nine Digital Roots Persistent Root Guessing Someone's Age An Addition Trick A Multiplication Trick The Mysteries of Seven Predicting a Sum "Al Baker's "Numero" Psychological ForcesName Index