Perilous Problems for Puzzle Lovers: Math, Logic & Word Puzzles to Challenge Your Brain (Alex Bellos Puzzle Books) (Paperback)
Put your wits—and survival instincts—to the test!
Publisher’s Note: Perilous Problems for Puzzle Lovers was previously published in the UK under the title So You Think You’ve Got Problems?
In Perilous Problems for Puzzle Lovers, Alex Bellos collects 125 of the world’s greatest stumpers—many dangerous to your person, and all dangerous to your pride. Brace yourself to wrestle with wordplay, grapple with geometry, and scramble for survival. For example . . .
Ten lions and a sheep are in a pen. Any lion who eats the sheep will fall asleep. A sleeping lion will be eaten by another lion, who falls asleep in turn. If the lions are all perfect logicians, what happens?
Bellos pairs his fiendish brainteasers with fascinating history, so you’ll meet Alcuin, Sam Loyd, and other puzzle masters of yore—in between deranged despots and wily jailers with an unaccountable taste for riddles. Will you make it out alive? And what about the sheep?
Publisher’s Note: Perilous Problems for Puzzle Lovers was previously published in the UK under the title So You Think You’ve Got Problems?
In Perilous Problems for Puzzle Lovers, Alex Bellos collects 125 of the world’s greatest stumpers—many dangerous to your person, and all dangerous to your pride. Brace yourself to wrestle with wordplay, grapple with geometry, and scramble for survival. For example . . .
Ten lions and a sheep are in a pen. Any lion who eats the sheep will fall asleep. A sleeping lion will be eaten by another lion, who falls asleep in turn. If the lions are all perfect logicians, what happens?
Bellos pairs his fiendish brainteasers with fascinating history, so you’ll meet Alcuin, Sam Loyd, and other puzzle masters of yore—in between deranged despots and wily jailers with an unaccountable taste for riddles. Will you make it out alive? And what about the sheep?
Alex Bellos holds a degree in mathematics and philosophy from Oxford University. His bestselling books, Here’s Looking at Euclid and The Grapes of Math, have been translated into more than 20 languages and were both shortlisted for the Royal Society Science Book prize. His puzzle books include Can You Solve My Problems?, Puzzle Ninja, Perilous Problems for Puzzle Lovers, and The Language Lover’s Puzzle Book. He is also the coauthor of the mathematical coloring books Patterns of the Universe and Visions of the Universe. He has launched an elliptical pool table, LOOP. He writes a puzzle blog for The Guardian, and he won the Association of British Science Writers award for best science blog in 2016. He lives in London.
“Smart thinker Alex Bellos . . . has designed these brilliantly challenging puzzles to send the little grey brain cells into overdrive . . . knotty problems, hidden patterns, confusing conundrums, and devious survival situations.”—Sunday Express
“This puzzle book by the brilliant [Alex Bellos] is keeping me nice and entertained. . . . Very clever.”—Rachel Riley, cohost of Countdown
“Lots of Ah, Aha, and Haha, which is the mark of a good puzzle.”—Rob Eastaway, coauthor of Why Do Buses Come in Threes?
“As anyone who follows his Guardian puzzle column will know, Alex has very good taste in puzzles. Unsurprisingly, therefore, this is a great collection.”—Chalkdust magazine
“This puzzle book by the brilliant [Alex Bellos] is keeping me nice and entertained. . . . Very clever.”—Rachel Riley, cohost of Countdown
“Lots of Ah, Aha, and Haha, which is the mark of a good puzzle.”—Rob Eastaway, coauthor of Why Do Buses Come in Threes?
“As anyone who follows his Guardian puzzle column will know, Alex has very good taste in puzzles. Unsurprisingly, therefore, this is a great collection.”—Chalkdust magazine