Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: Mind Games: Probability Games by Ivan Moscovich, David Brion ISBN: 0-7611-2017-3 Publisher: Workman Publishing Company Pub. Date: 01 June, 2000 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $6.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 1 (1 review)
Rating: 1
Summary: Improbable Probability
Comment: I had hoped to use Probability Games as a way of introducing my nephew to the subject of probability. Unfortunately, the book serves better as an example of how careful one must be when writing a book on mathematics.
The book contains 26 puzzles/games, most of which invite the reader to compute a probability or number of permutations. Five of the 26 contain errors, either in the text or in the answer section. Some of the errors are obvious. For example, the author states that the first puzzle has a unique solution. Any bright eight year old (the book is "for kids ages 8 and up") will find four distinct solutions without breaking a sweat.
Other errors are more subtle. For example, the author discusses two approaches to solving the first puzzle. In the first he uses pure trial and error. In the second, he uses a depth first algorithm. He notes correctly that the second method is much faster than the first. However, judging from his explanation, the author does not appear to know that he used two radically different methods. He attributes the difference solely to his choice of starting points.
Still other errors are simply baffling. One of the games involves a race. The reader is to determine which contestant will win. The discussion in the answer section would make sense only if the two contestants were engaged in a tug of war, not a race. In the puzzle following that one, the answer section has two contradictory answers.
Add to those the puzzles that depend on unstated assumptions (some reasonable, at least one completely absurd), and you're going to have one frustrated kid.
Like all the books in the Mind Games series, Probability Games has considerable visual appeal. It is a shame that more care was not used on the contents.
 |
Title: Mind Games: Number Games by Ivan Moscovich ISBN: 0761120181 Publisher: Workman Publishing Company Pub. Date: 01 June, 2000 List Price(USD): $6.95 |
 |
Title: 1000 Play Thinks: Puzzles, Paradoxes, Illusions & Games by Ivan Moscovich, Tim Robinson, Ian Stewart ISBN: 0761118268 Publisher: Workman Publishing Company Pub. Date: October, 2001 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
 |
Title: Mindgames: Network Games by Ivan Moscovich, David Brion ISBN: 076112019X Publisher: Workman Publishing Company Pub. Date: 2002 List Price(USD): $6.95 |
 |
Title: Pattern Games (Mindgames) by Ivan Moscovich, David Brion ISBN: 0761120203 Publisher: Workman Publishing Company Pub. Date: June, 2002 List Price(USD): $6.95 |
 |
Title: My Best Mathematical and Logic Puzzles by Martin Gardner ISBN: 0486281523 Publisher: Dover Pubns Pub. Date: 01 November, 1994 List Price(USD): $4.95 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
