Abstract
THERE is reason to suppose that in at least some cases an interest in mathematics develops out of an interest in puzzles and problems, rather than from an interest in straightforward arithmetic. For those whose interests in mathematics have already been aroused, there are collections of mathematical recreations, of which the best known to the British reader are W. W. R. Ball's "Mathematical Recreations and Essays" and H. E. Dudeney's "Amusements in Mathematics". Ball's book, especially as revised by H. S. M. Coxeter, lays the emphasis on the mathematics. However apparently frivolous the starting point, the reader soon finds himself guided, gently but firmly, into an approach towards important mathematical principles. Dudeney's book, on the other hand, lays the emphasis on the amusements, and appeals more to the type of person who delights in listening to the "Brains Trust".
Mathematical Recreations
By Prof. Maurice Kraitchik. Pp. 328. (London: George Allen and Unwin, Ltd., 1943.) 12s. 6d. net.
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H. P., H. Mathematical Recreations. Nature 153, 271 (1944). https://doi.org/10.1038/153271a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/153271a0