For over eighty years this delightful classic has provided entertainment through mathematical problems commonly known as recreations. Although they often involve fundamental mathematical methods and notions, their chief appeal is as games or puzzles rather than the usefulness of their conclusions. This new edition upholds the original, but the terminology and treatment of problems have been updated and much new material has been added. There are new selections on polyominoes and the notion of dragon designs, and a new chapter, ‘Introduction to Combinatorics.’ Other topics dealt with in the fourteen chapters include arithmetical and geometrical recreations and problems, polyhedra, chess-board recreations, unicursal problems, cryptography and cryptanalysis, and calculating prodigies. Since no knowledge of calculus or analytic geometry is necessary to enjoy the recreations, this book will appeal widely to teachers of mathematics and students and to anyone who is mathematically inclined.

How does the brain represent number and make mathematical calculations? What underlies the development of numerical and mathematical abilities? What factors affect the learning of numerical concepts and skills? What are the biological bases of number knowledge? Do humans and other animals share similar numerical representations and processes? What underlies numerical and mathematical disabilities and disorders, and what is the prognosis for rehabilitation? These questions are the domain of mathematical cognition, the field of research concerned with the cognitive and neurological processes that underlie numerical and mathematical abilities. TheHandbook of Mathematical Cognition is a collection of 27 essays by leading researchers that provides a comprehensive review of this important research field.