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    Impossible Folding Puzzles and Other Mathematical Paradoxes
    Impossible Folding Puzzles and Other Mathematical Paradoxes
    Impossible Folding Puzzles and Other Mathematical Paradoxes
    Ebook234 pages36 minutes

    Impossible Folding Puzzles and Other Mathematical Paradoxes

    By Gianni A. Sarcone and Marie-Jo Waeber

    2.5/5

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    About this ebook

    Do all problems have solutions? Is complexity synonymous with difficulty? This original collection of mathematical puzzles and paradoxes proves that things aren't always what they seem! Readers will discover that nothing is as easy or as difficult as it looks and that puzzles can have one, several, or no solutions.
    The fun-filled puzzles begin with The Tricky Hole, a challenge that involves pushing a large coin through a small hole in a sheet of paper without ripping or making any cuts in the paper. Advance to the Elastic Playing Card, in which it's possible to cut a hole into a playing card big enough for someone to climb through. Other incredible puzzles include Elephants and Castles, Trianglized Kangaroo, Honest Dice and Logic Dice, Mind-reading Powers, and dozens more. Complete solutions explain the mathematical realities behind the fantastic-sounding challenges.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDover Publications
    Release dateMay 25, 2014
    ISBN9780486795652
    Impossible Folding Puzzles and Other Mathematical Paradoxes

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      Book preview

      Impossible Folding Puzzles and Other Mathematical Paradoxes - Gianni A. Sarcone

      Impossible Folding Puzzles

      and Other Mathematical

      Paradoxes

      Gianni A. Sarcone & Marie-Jo Waeber

      Dover Publications, Inc.

      Mineola, New York

      Copyright

      Copyright © 2013 by Gianni A. Sarcone and Marie-Jo Waeber

      All rights reserved

      Bibliographical Note

      Impossible Folding Puzzles and Other Mathematical Paradoxes is a new work,

      first published by Dover Publications, Inc., in 2013..

      International Standard Book Number

      eISBN-13: 978-0-486-79565-2

      BOOK DESIGN BY PAULA GOLDSTEIN, BLUE BUNGALOW DESIGN

      Manufactured in the United States by Courier Corporation

      49351201 2013

      www.doverpublications.com

      Contents

      Introduction

      Topology

      The Tricky Hole

      Elastic Playing Card

      An Intriguing Three-Dimensional Puzzle

      Flexible Bottle-Opener

      King of Love

      Magic Flexagon

      Key Tag Puzzle

      St. George’s Cross

      One-Side Loops

      Figure-Eight Shaped Pastry

      Power or Love: An Amusing Revolving Structure

      Paradromic Rings

      An Impossible Knot

      Math Ingenuity in Design

      Impossible Pyramid

      Woven Triangle

      The Magic Box

      Torquato Puzzle

      Buttonhole Puzzle, an Important Historical Puzzle

      Kirigami Odin’s Triangles

      Geometry

      Ural Mountains

      A Challenging Triangle

      Squared

      Mysterious Birds

      Japanese Flag

      Interlocked Disk

      Round and Round

      Chocolate Puzzle

      Magic Bagels

      Triangular Congestion

      Elephants and Castles

      Trianglized Kangaroo

      Mend the Square

      Cardboard Ball

      The Impossible T

      Numerical, Sequential and Combinatory Puzzles

      Towers’ Permutation

      Honest Dice

      Magic Combinatory Puzzle

      Missing Number

      Logic Dice

      Eiffer Tower

      Mind-reading Powers

      Broken Magic Square

      Amazing Calendar

      Donkeys and Zebras

      Magic Magic Square

      Amazing Calculator

      Introduction

      A world without problems is an illusion, so is a world without solutions.

      —G. Sarcone

      We often confuse inability with impossibility. Sometimes, even if we have all the necessary skills, the lack of sufficient information can kill our motivation to do something or solve a problem. Other times, it may be that our inability is due to the fact that some things are simply impossible to do. We learned at school that every problem has a solution, yet, though humans are remarkable problem solvers, there are problems that still remain unsolved.

      When a child (or an adult) experiences many failures in a given area, a phenomenon known as cognitive dissonance starts to set in his mind. The child will then assume he is not (or is no longer) able to perform in this area, and eventually accepts this condition by hiding behind excuses such as anyway, it’s a useless waste of time!.

      Curiously enough, a child (or an adult) who wrestles with paradoxical problems—that is, deceptively easy problems that have no solution, or problems that seem at first impossible, but which have a very simple solution—will put his or her supposed inability into perspective and will look at any upcoming challenge with new eyes.

      Intriguing puzzles or magic tricks share a principle called violation of expectation; the more the solution or the magic trick is unexpected or unpredictable, the more the reader or the spectator will become involved and enjoy it! Surprise can actually be a powerful ingredient to stimulate interest and a motivator for learning.

      Problem of understanding vs Problem of Attention

      Many problems of understanding in mathematics (not all!) can be reduced to a problem of attention or misdirection. We can draw a parallel between mathematical puzzles and conjuring--both share the same keystone element: attention! The stage magician, like the creator of puzzles, plays with our attention. His goal is to divert our attention so that we overlook the real procedure or technique that underlies the magic effect.

      Neuroscientists liken our attention focus to shining a spotlight on something – we pay attention only on what is lit, and lose focus on everything else. Magicians and puzzle authors exploit this tunnel effect to perplex us.

      The Aim of The Book: Instill A Sense Of wonder

      One of my inspirations in puzzle making was the French writer Anatole France, who said Awaken people’s curiosity. It is enough to open minds, do not overload them... Put there just a spark! I like to combine art, psychology, cognitive sciences, and recreational mathematics to test people’s ingenuity. I know by experience readers enjoy counterintuitive or paradoxical surprises!

      As an author of recreational math games and problems, I particularly love those puzzles that look deceptively simple or that require very few pieces, giving the illusion they can be easily solved. Paradoxes, too, can be a creative tool. In fact, playing with paradoxes can sharpen attention, and foster focusing on the solution and not the problem.

      I created or revisited the games and puzzles featured in this book. They are surprising in their effects and amazing in their simplicity. But it is precisely their simplicity that

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