Mathematics, Magic and Mystery

Martin Gardner was a renowned author who published over 70 books on subjects from science and math to poetry and religion. He also had a lifelong passion for magic tricks and puzzles. Well known for his mathematical games column in Scientific American and his "Trick of the Month" in Physics Teacher magazine, Gardner attracted a loyal following with his intelligence, wit, and imagination. Martin Gardner: A Remembrance The worldwide mathematical community was saddened by the death of Martin Gardner on May 22, 2010. Martin was 95 years old when he died, and had written 70 or 80 books during his long lifetime as an author. Martin's first Dover books were published in 1956 and 1957: Mathematics, Magic and Mystery, one of the first popular books on the intellectual excitement of mathematics to reach a wide audience, and Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science, certainly one of the first popular books to cast a devastatingly skeptical eye on the claims of pseudoscience and the many guises in which the modern world has given rise to it. Both of these pioneering books are still in print with Dover today along with more than a dozen other titles of Martin's books. They run the gamut from his elementary Codes, Ciphers and Secret Writing, which has been enjoyed by generations of younger readers since the 1980s, to the more demanding The New Ambidextrous Universe: Symmetry and Asymmetry from Mirror Reflections to Superstrings, which Dover published in its final revised form in 2005. To those of us who have been associated with Dover for a long time, however, Martin was more than an author, albeit a remarkably popular and successful one. As a member of the small group of long-time advisors and consultants, which included NYU's Morris Kline in mathematics, Harvard's I. Bernard Cohen in the history of science, and MIT's J. P. Den Hartog in engineering, Martin's advice and editorial suggestions in the formative 1950s helped to define the Dover publishing program and give it the point of view which — despite many changes, new directions, and the consequences of evolution — continues to be operative today. In the Author's Own Words: "Politicians, real-estate agents, used-car salesmen, and advertising copy-writers are expected to stretch facts in self-serving directions, but scientists who falsify their results are regarded by their peers as committing an inexcusable crime. Yet the sad fact is that the history of science swarms with cases of outright fakery and instances of scientists who unconsciously distorted their work by seeing it through lenses of passionately held beliefs." "A surprising proportion of mathematicians are accomplished musicians. Is it because music and mathematics share patterns that are beautiful?" — Martin Gardner

• Preface1. Tricks with Cards--Part IThe Curiosities of PeirceThe Five Poker HandsTricks Using Cards as Counting UnitsThe Piano TrickThe Estimated CutTricks Using the Numerical ValuesFindley's Four-card TrickA Baffling PredictionHenry Christ's ImprovementThe Cyclic NumberThe Missing CardJordan's MethodTricks Based on Division of Colors and SuitsStewart James' Color PredictionThe Royal PairsTricks Using Front and BackMatching the ColorsHummer's Reversal MysteryThe Little Moonies2. Tricks with Cards--Part IIO'Connor's Four-ace TrickThe Magic of ManhattanPredicting the ShiftThe Keystone Card DiscoveryTwo-pile LocationSpelling the SpadesElmsley's Card CoincidenceMagic by MailBelchou's AcesThe Tit-Tat-Toe TrickOther Tricks of Interest3. From Gergonne to GargantuaNaming the Position of the CardBringing the Card to a Named PositionWalker's MethodNaming the CardRelation to Ternary SystemGargantua's Ten-pile Problem4. Magic with Common ObjectsDiceGuessing the TotalFrank Dodd's PredictionPositional Notation TricksHummer's Die MysteryDominoesThe Break in the ChainThe Row of ThirteenCalendarsMagic SquaresGibson's Circled DatesStover's PredictionCalendar MemorizingWatchesTapping the HoursDie and Watch MysteryDollar BillsHeath's Bill TrickMatchesThe Three HeapsMatch Folder Mind-ReadingThe Tramps and ChickensThe Purloined ObjectsCoinsThe Nine MysteryWhich Hand?Heath's VariationHeads or Tails?CheckerboardsHummer's Checker TrickMiscellaneous ObjectsHummer's Three-Object DivinationYates' Four-Object Divination5. Topological TomfooleryThe Afghan BandsHandkerchief TricksFinger EscapeTabor's Interlocked HandkerchiefsKnotty ProblemsString and RopeGarter TricksThe Giant's GarterMore String TricksClothingThe Puzzling LoopReversing the VestRemoving the VestRubber BandsThe Jumping BandThe Twisted Band6. Tricks with Special EquipmentNumber CardsWindow CardsSam Lloyd's VersionTap TricksCrazy Time"Heath's "Tappit"Tap-a-DrinkTap-an-AnimalThe Riddle CardDice and Domino Tricks"Heath's "Di-Ciphering"Sure-Shot Dice BoxBlyth's Domino BoxBlocks of IndiaHummer Tricks7. Geometrical Vanishes--Part IThe Line ParadoxSam Lloyd's Flag PuzzleThe Vanishing Face"Get Off the Earth"DeLand's ParadoxThe Vanishing RabbitStover's Variations8. Geometrical Vanishes--Part IIThe Checkerboard ParadoxHooper's ParadoxSquare VariationFibonacci SeriesLangman's VersionCurry's ParadoxCurry TrianglesFour-piece SquaresThree-piece SquaresTwo-piece SquaresCurved and 3-D Forms9. Magic with Pure NumbersRapid Cube Root ExtractionAdding a Fibonacci SeriesPredicting a NumberCurry's VersionAl Baker's VersionDivining a NumberThe Mysteries of NineDigital RootsPersistent RootGuessing Someone's AgeAn Addition TrickA Multiplication TrickThe Mysteries of SevenPredicting a Sum"Al Baker's "Numero"Psychological ForcesName Index