Magic Squares and Others -- Classic Puzzles in Recreational Mathematics

Author: Wu Heling
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-10-01
Features: The fun of mathematics is not limited to mathematical games. Some of the highly practical content in mathematics contains profound mysteries and stimulates deep thought, leaving one amazed. The fun of mathematics exists in different levels and realms. The fun that a master of mathematics sees may differ from what a primary school student sees. Regarding this series of books, different readers will also derive different enjoyment and benefits from them. It can be used as a casual read for leisure and entertainment, helping to alleviate work fatigue and worldly worries; it can serve as a reference for teachers to enliven classroom atmosphere and inspire students' minds; it can also be used as extracurricular reading for students to broaden their horizons, gain knowledge, and develop logical thinking skills. Even for university students, graduate students, or even mathematicians, it is beneficial to read. This book is divided into two parts. The first part is "Bai Yan Huan Fang — Entertainment Mathematics" featuring classic puzzles — magic squares, which provides an extremely detailed introduction to the discoveries and achievements in the study of magic squares throughout history. The second part includes other classic puzzles in entertainment mathematics, such as mathematical riddles, mathematical pyramids, prime numbers, perfect numbers, automorphic numbers, progressive divisible numbers, as well as phenomena like "mathematical black holes," Hamiltonian circuits on chessboards, the eight-queen problem, the Tower of Hanoi, and the magic square rearrangement. The topics are diverse and the content is engaging, capable of inspiring thoughts, broadening perspectives, and cultivating readers' ability to analyze and solve problems. Suitable for readers with high school and above education levels.