The Mathematics of Oz: Mental Gymnastics from Beyond the Edge | 
 enlarge | Author: Clifford A. Pickover
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Category: Book
List Price: $18.99
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Avg. Customer Rating:  5 reviews
Sales Rank: 153249
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 368
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 14.2 x 8.9 x 0.8
ISBN: 0521700841
Dewey Decimal Number: 511
EAN: 9780521700849
ASIN: 0521700841
Publication Date: March 19, 2007
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Grab a pencil. Relax. Then take off on a mind-boggling journey to the ultimate frontier of math, mind, and meaning as acclaimed author Clifford Pickover, Dorothy, and Dr. Oz explore some of the oddest and quirkiest highways and byways of the numerically obsessed. The thought-provoking mysteries, puzzles, and problems range from zebra numbers and circular primes to Legion's number--a number so big that it makes a trillion pale in comparison. The strange mazes, bizarre consequences, and dizzying arrays of logic problems entertain readers at all levels of mathematical sophistication. The tests devised by enigmatic Dr. Oz to assess human intelligence will tease the brain of even the most avid puzzle fan. They feature a host of mathematical topics: geometry and mazes, sequences, series, sets, arrangements, probability and misdirection, number theory, arithmetic, and even several problems dealing with the physical world. With numerous illustrations, this is an original, fun-filled, and unusual introduction to numbers and their role in creativity, computers, games, practical research, and absurd adventures that teeter on the edge of logic and insanity. Clifford A. Pickover is the author of over twenty highly acclaimed books on such topics as computers and creativity, art, mathematics, black holes, human behavior and intelligence, time travel, alien life, and science fiction. Among his books are Computers, Pattern, Chaos, and Beauty (St. Martin's Press, 1990), Wonders of Numbers (Oxford University Press, 2000), Dreaming the Future (Prometheus, 2001), The Zen of Magic Squares, Circles, and Stars (Princeton University Press, 2001), The Stars of Heaven (Oxford University Press, 2001), The Paradox of God and the Science of Omniscience (Palgrave, 2002). A Ph.D. graduate of Yale University, he is a prolific inventor with dozens of patents, the associate editor for several journals, the author of colorful puzzle calendars, and puzzle contributor to adult and children's magazines. Pickover's computer graphics have been featured on the cover of many popular magazines and on T.V. shows.
Book Description
Prepare yourself for a shattering odyssey as The Mathematics of Oz unlocks the doors of your imagination. The tests devised by the enigmatic Dr. Oz to assess human intelligence will boggle the brain of even the most avid puzzle fan and entertain readers at all levels of mathematical sophistication. His thought-provoking mysteries, puzzles, and problems range from zebra numbers and circular primes to Legion's number -- a number so big that it makes a trillion pale in comparison. With numerous illustrations, this is an original, fun-filled, and thoroughly unique introduction to numbers and their role in creativity, computers, games, practical research, and absurd adventures.
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| Customer Reviews:
Your mental mathematical muscles will be stretched April 22, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Clifford Pickover is a fountain of ideas, and in this book, he presents a set of puzzles and problems that display some of those ideas. They range from the simple to the hard, and the premise is that Dorothy has been abducted by the alien Dr. Oz and his assistant Mr. Plex. Dr. Oz presents the puzzles to Dorothy with the general caveat that she will be rewarded if she can solve them. All of the puzzles are given a difficulty rating, although there are times when the rating seems inaccurate.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and got so involved with a few of the problems that I used them as the basis for a presentation I made to a gathering of college and university mathematicians. It will stretch your mental mathematical muscles.
The Mathematics of Oz: Mental Gymnastics from Beyond the Edge May 12, 2007
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Awesome blend of stories mixing in some interesting puzzles. Being a Kansas girl, I was intrigued by the entertaining story line set in the "Sunflower state". My son graduated from the Unversity of Kansas and there is a fictional story of the campus in the book that builds toward a puzzle. I gave the book to my son on his 25th birthday and I had marked the KU story. He turned to it and was totally endeared to the book. Couldn't be a better present for anyone who loves Kansas or puzzles. Just great!!!
 What is interesting and what solvable? October 14, 2003
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
I prefer mathematical puzzles that have two features:
- they are interesting (i.e. they have that difficulty that make them worth trying to solve);
- they are solvable without developing a whole new theory and without writing program code.
In this book most problems that are interesting (very interesting and intriguing, I must admit) are not solvable in the foresaid sense, and most solvable ones are not interestin. Of course, a few are both. The picture sequences to be completed are very original, and sometimes difficult, examples of QI tests.
However, in spite of that slight flaw, I have really enjoyed reading it. It may depends on my appreciation of Oz novels and movie, and even if this book is not likely to mark the history of mathematical entertainment, it remains a worthy reading.
A true mathematical wonderland August 28, 2003
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
This wonderful mathematical puzzle book has over 100 puzzles sure to delight readers -- from kids to adults. The problems include: mazes, sequences, probability, and more. Most puzzles are very clever and fun. I liked considering the yellow-brick road that crosses America. How many bricks would it take? I also liked the zebra numbers and circular primes. Legion's number is a number so big that it makes a a billion look puny.Anyone who has pondered the vastness of our mathematical universe will love this book.
Math Puzzles from another Universe! September 14, 2002
13 out of 15 found this review helpful
I found the puzzles and problems in this book to be original and varied, and with a wide range of difficulty levels. I enjoyed the fact that some puzzles might actually have more than one answer, which leaves room for healthy debate and for better understanding the way different people think. I think this book can be enjoyed by readers of different levels of mathematical sophistication. For example, a freshman in high school could skip the more difficult problems, like the one on Ramanujan Congruences, although this is one of the most interesting chapters. My favorite chapter is one that poses a statistics-like question, dealing with bones thrown into a pit. You have to figure out the ratio of the long piece to the short piece. Here's a sample of other chapters that I really enjoyed:1. The Yellow-brick Road
2. An Experiment with Kansas
8. The Problem of the Bones
16. Omega Sphere
28. Legions' Number
29. The Problem of the Tombs
35. Prime-poor Equations
36. Number Satellite
43. Ramanujan Congruences and the Quest for Transcendence
49. The Jellyfish of Europa
99. A Connection Between Pi and e
103. The Scarecrow Formula
107. The Omega Crystal
108. Attack of the Undulating Undecamorphs
I've already spent hours reading and rereading the book, and showing it to friends, and I know I'll spend many hours more!
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