Allen & Unwin Can You Solve My Problems? book Gift book English Paperback 352 pages

The bestselling author of Alex's Adventures in Numberland tells the story of the puzzle through 125 of the world's best brainteasers. Packed with eye-opening anecdotes, brain-stretching ideas and thoroughly addictive puzzles Can You Solve My Problems? will leave you wonderstruck

Are you smarter than a Singaporean ten-year-old? Can you beat Sherlock Holmes? If you think the answer is yes - I challenge you to solve my problems.Here is the story of the puzzle, one of mankind's oldest and greatest forms of entertainment and enlightenment, told through 125 of the world's best brainteasers from the last two millennia. It takes us from ancient China to medieval Europe, Victorian England to modern-day Japan, with stories of espionage, mathematical breakthroughs and puzzling rivalries along the way. You'll pit your wits against logic puzzles and kinship riddles, pangrams and river-crossing conundrums. Some solutions rely on a touch of cunning, others call for creativity, others need mercilessly logical thought. Some can only be solved by 2% of the population. All are guaranteed to sharpen your mind. Let's get puzzling...

Alex Bellos is brilliant on all things mathematical. He has a degree in Mathematics and Philosophy from Oxford University. His bestselling books Alex's Adventures in Numberland and Alex Through the Looking-Glass have been translated into more than 20 languages. He is the co-author of a mathematical colouring book, Snowflake, Seashell, Star, and he has launched an elliptical pool table, LOOP. He writes a popular maths blog and a puzzle blog for the Guardian.