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Title: 1000 Play Thinks: Puzzles, Paradoxes, Illusions & Games by Ivan Moscovich, Tim Robinson, Ian Stewart ISBN: 0-7611-1826-8 Publisher: Workman Publishing Company Pub. Date: October, 2001 Format: Plastic Comb Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.12 (8 reviews)
Rating: 2
Summary: Another brain teaser that has some annoyances
Comment: I like to have my brain teased. This book can do that, but it also lies to my brain and does what EVERY OTHER BOOK LIKE IT HAS DONE. It pulls out information that is never stated or implied.
One of the questions is "What is the chance that two dice thrown will come up with an even result?" the answer in the back shows a picture of dice numbered one through six on the top and down the left. (much like a chess board) Then the sums of their sides are shown in the corresponding spots on the board. The answer then says that you would get 18 out of 36 even numbers if you threw the two dice. Here is where the flaw with this book comes in to play. The question was asking probability but the answer was giving you outcomes. The rules of statisitcs make these two things seperate. The probability is 12 out of 21. The outcomes are 18 of 36. My statistics class taught me that. But he uses the outcomes as probability. The problem here is that you have overlap in the numbers. The 1-3 combination is the same as the 3-1 combination because the question originally asked for a result of the dice.
The second problem was with one of the other kinds of these brain teasers. The question was too find out who the four people in the picture were and what they liked by what they were saying. The question said "This is a group that I belong to." I was not catching on to the fact that the author of the book was named Ivan and therefore could not figure out why the answer named one of the people Ivan. I get it now, but it is one of those annoyances with these kind of books.
The third question that I had a problem with said can you figure out the three mistakes in the following statement. "What are the tree mistake in this sentence?" Okay the answer says 1- the mispelled "three". 2- the missing s at the end of mistake. and here's the kicker 3- there is no third mistake so that IS the third mistake. COME ON.
Most of the book however is good and challenging to the brain. These are only a couple that have soured me to the "1,000 PLAY THINKS". I would however recommend it to look at and get but make sure you check that the answers are correct and don't take them as gospel.
Rating: 1
Summary: Riddled with errors
Comment: As I dipped into this book I became more and more annoyed. It has many, many mistakes, of all kinds, in it. Even in presenting well-known puzzles the author manages to make serious errors. Here are a few of the mistakes that I noticed:
(Puzzle 307) Morley's theorem is (to quote the late H.S.M. Coxeter) "one on the most surprising theorems in elementary geometry", but Moscovich manages to get the diagram wrong! The triangle which he picks out does not even look equilateral!
(Puzzle 772) For the well-known puzzle of passing a cube through a smaller cube the author begins his explanation: "If you hold a cube so that one corner points directly toward you, its edges outline a hexagon. It then becomes obvious that the cube has ample space for a square hole slightly larger than one of its faces." There is even a picture of a hexagon with a square superimposed on it. Although a cube can be passed through a (slightly) smaller cube in this way, it is well known that the optimum solution does not have the edges of the hole parallel to the space diagonal of the cube.
(Puzzle 990) Weighing from 1 to 40 grams using weights on one side of a balance only. Moscovich says "you must have the weights 1, 2, 4, 8, 16 and 32 grams". Not so. For example, 1, 2, 4, 8, 9 and 16 would be ok.
I began to compile a list of errors in this book, but I gave up when I had accumulated over 30, having read, I would estimate, about a quarter of the book.
The book has a "Difficulty Index" which should be renamed the "Difficult Index". You have to know the exact title of a puzzle and its level (from 1 to 9), in order to find it again using this index.
Rating: 5
Summary: correction
Comment: I'm re-entering this because the review I submitted on March 8,2002 does not appear with my reviews under (see more about me).
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Title: Mind Games: Number Games by Ivan Moscovich ISBN: 0761120181 Publisher: Workman Publishing Company Pub. Date: 01 June, 2000 List Price(USD): $6.95 |
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Title: Are You Smart, or What? A Bizarre Book of Games & Fun for Everyone by Pasqual J. Battaglia, Pat Battaglia ISBN: 0970825307 Publisher: International Puzzle Features Pub. Date: 27 July, 2001 List Price(USD): $9.95 |
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Title: Mind Games: Probability Games by Ivan Moscovich, David Brion ISBN: 0761120173 Publisher: Workman Publishing Company Pub. Date: 01 June, 2000 List Price(USD): $6.95 |
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Title: Pattern Games (Mindgames) by Ivan Moscovich, David Brion ISBN: 0761120203 Publisher: Workman Publishing Company Pub. Date: June, 2002 List Price(USD): $6.95 |
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Title: Mindgames: Network Games by Ivan Moscovich, David Brion ISBN: 076112019X Publisher: Workman Publishing Company Pub. Date: 2002 List Price(USD): $6.95 |
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