Lewis Carroll's Cats And Rats... And Other Puzzles With Interesting Tails

British–Israeli recreational mathematician, communicator and educator, Yossi Elran explores in-depth six of the most ingenious math puzzles, exposing their long ""tails"": the stories, trivia, quirks and oddities of their history and, of course, the math and mathematicians behind them. In his unique ""talmudic"", associative way, Elran shows the hidden connections between Lewis Carroll's ""Cats and Rats"" puzzle and the math of taxi driving, a number pyramid magic trick and Hollywood movie fractals, and even how packing puzzles are related to COVID-19! Elran has a great talent for explaining even the most difficult of topics — even quantum mechanics, a topic he relates to one of his own, original ""operator puzzles"" — making the book very accessible for all audiences. His passion for math radiates from every page of this book. With over 50 additional, original puzzles, and touching on dozens of hot math topics, this is a perfect book for math lovers, educators, kids and adults, and anyone who loves a great read. Yossi Elran is co-author of the bestselling Paper Puzzle Book, and heads the Innovation Center at the Davidson Institute of Science Education, the educational arm of the world-renown Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel.
Writing in the tradition of Martin Gardner and other mathematical puzzle wizards, Elran starts each chapter with a single puzzle, problem, or magic trick, then explores the mathematics behind the puzzle and its solution. Along the way, he exposes many hidden math themes and connected issues, as well as some of the stories, trivia, quirks, and oddities of their history and the mathematicians behind them. He covers Lewis Carroll's cats and rats; retrolife puzzles; number search, Graeco-Latin square puzzles, and miracle sudokus; operator puzzles; from number pyramids to fractals; and puzzles from the pandemic: math and COVID-19. Annotation ©2021 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com)