Uses brain teasers and engaging activities to help teach young readers intermediate mathematics skills.

Fool your friends; baffle your buddies; and perplex your parents with dozens of amazing tricks. Each of these fascinating feats appears to be the work of magical forces, but their true secret lies in mathematical manipulations. Correctly guess the age of any volunteer. Startle a stranger with knowledge about his or her life. Read minds, make accurate predictions, perform lightning-quick calculations, and demonstrate seemingly mystical powers of memory. Perform extraordinary effects with cards, dice, pencil and paper (and occasionally a calculator). In all of these tricks, the mathematical principle is well-concealed, and in many of them the use of numbers isn't even suspected. For each trick, an explanation of why it works is included in order to help you better understand the principle behind it, as well as to enable you to make your own variations on the trick or to develop other tricks on your own. Suggestions are given for what to say when introducing a trick so as to heighten suspense, increase sur prise, and keep your audience as confounded as possible. No sleight of hand is used, but with your brain power as your "magic wand," you'll have fun entertaining, amazing, and confusing people for hours. 96 pages, 51 b/w illus., 5 3/8 x 8 1/4. NEW IN PAPERBACK

Famed puzzle expert explains math behind a multitude of mystifying tricks: card tricks, stage "mind reading," coin and match tricks, counting out games, geometric dissections, etc. More than 400 tricks. 135 illustrations.

Mathematical card effects offer both beginning and experienced magicians an opportunity to entertain with a minimum of props. Featuring mostly original creations, Mathematical Card Magic: Fifty-Two New Effects presents an entertaining look at new mathematically based card tricks. Each chapter contains four card effects, generally starting with simple applications of a particular mathematical principle and ending with more complex ones. Practice a handful of the introductory effects and, in no time, you’ll establish your reputation as a "mathemagician." Delve a little deeper into each chapter and the mathematics gets more interesting. The author explains the mathematics as needed in an easy-to-follow way. He also provides additional details, background, and suggestions for further explorations. Suitable for recreational math buffs and amateur card lovers or as a text in a first-year seminar, this color book offers a diverse collection of new mathemagic principles and effects.

Looks at how numbers actually work, and teaches addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division in a new way that makes everyday math simple to understand

Using proven techniques, this volume shows how to add, subtract, multiply and divide faster than is possible with a calculator or pencil and paper, and helps readers conquer their nervousness about math.