Which Way Did the Bicycle Go?: And Other Intriguing Mathematical Mysteries (Dolciani Mathematical Expositions)
By Joseph D. E. Konhauser, Dan Velleman, Stan Wagon
* Publisher: The Mathematical Association of America
* Number Of Pages: 256
* Publication Date: 1996-10-01
* ISBN-10 / ASIN: 0883853256
* ISBN-13 / EAN: 9780883853252
* Binding: Paperback
Book Description:
This book contains the best problems selected from over 25 years of the Problem of the Week at Macalester College. This collection will give students, teachers, and university professors a chance to experience the pleasure of wrestling with some beautiful problems of elementary mathematics. Readers can compare their sleuthing talents with those of Sherlock Holmes, who made a bad mistake regarding the first problem in the collection: Determine the direction of travel of a bicycle that has left its tracks in a patch of mud. The collection contains a variety of other unusual and interesting problems in geometry, algebra, combinatorics, and number theory. For example, if a pizza is sliced into eight 45-degree wedges meeting at a point other than the center of the pizza, and two people eat alternating wedges, will they get equal amounts of pizza? Or: Is an advertiser's claim that a certain unusual combination lock allows thousands of combinations justified? Complete solutions to the 191 problems are included with problem variations and topics for investigation.
Summary: Excellent Book for anyone with time
Rating: 5
The book has many intriguing problems that are sure to capture the minds of any mathematician. It also contains a very nice answer section. The only throwback is that most of the problems take significant thought and require some time to solve completely. However, the nice answer section takes care of the problem should you become obsessed with a problem you can't quickly solve, and the overall quality of the problems warrant a 5-star rating.
http://ifile.it/ham2846/konhauservellemanwagon.rar
