THE SURPRISE ATTACK IN MATHEMATICAL PROBLEMS

For 25 years, workers in applied mathematics and mathematical puzzle fans from all over the world have supplied some of the most provocative and fresh problems in print to the puzzle columns of the Graham Dial. This new selection presents 52 of the finest of these problems

The common element binding these problems together is “surprise attack”. On the appearance of an interesting problem, readers wrote in to the Dial suggesting new approaches to solution. Some of the solution methods eliminated unnecessary steps and greatly simplified the problems. Others broadened the scope of the problem and opened up entirely new avenues of investigation. Those problems particularly rich in imaginative and interesting solutions are collected here.

The problems deal with such situations as measurement of geometrical spaces, probabilities, distances, number systems other than the decimal, interesting number relations, relative motion, and the discovery of the simplest solution through purely logical means. Solutions involve such techniques as arithmetic, algebra and geometry, number theory, statistics, networks, and inversion.