Best brain teaser books according to redditors
We found 148 Reddit comments discussing the best brain teaser books. We ranked the 66 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
We found 148 Reddit comments discussing the best brain teaser books. We ranked the 66 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
Your post has too little context/content for anyone to give you particularly relevant or specific advice. You should list what you know already and what you’re trying to learn. I find it’s easiest to research a new subject when I have a concrete problem I’m trying to solve.
But anyway, I’m going to assume you studied up through single variable calculus and are reasonably motivated to put some effort in with your reading. Here are some books which you might enjoy, depending on your interests. All should be reasonably accessible (to, say, a sharp and motivated undergraduate), but they’ll all take some work:
(in no particular order)
Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid (wikipedia)
To Mock a Mockingbird (wikipedia)
Structure in Nature is a Strategy for Design
Geometry and the Imagination
Visual Group Theory (website)
The Little Schemer (website)
Visual Complex Analysis (website)
Nonlinear Dynamics and Chaos (website)
Music, a Mathematical Offering (website)
QED
Mathematics and its History
The Nature and Growth of Modern Mathematics
Proofs from THE BOOK (wikipedia)
Concrete Mathematics (website, wikipedia)
The Symmetries of Things
Quantum Computing Since Democritus (website)
Solid Shape
On Numbers and Games (wikipedia)
Street-Fighting Mathematics (website)
But also, you’ll probably get more useful response somewhere else, e.g. /r/learnmath. (On /r/math you’re likely to attract downvotes with a question like this.)
You might enjoy:
https://www.reddit.com/r/math/comments/2mkmk0/a_compilation_of_useful_free_online_math_resources/
https://www.reddit.com/r/mathbooks/top/?sort=top&t=all
What's up dude. Took the LSAT in June. Went from a cold diagnostic of 154 to a 167. (Retaking in Sept for a 170+). Books I used/recommend:
https://www.amazon.com/LSAT-Trainer-remarkable-self-study-self-driven/dp/0989081508/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1469539064&sr=8-1&keywords=lsat+trainer
https://www.amazon.com/PowerScore-Logic-Games-Powerscore-Preparation/dp/0988758660/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1469539126&sr=8-1&keywords=powerscore+logic+game+bible
https://www.amazon.com/PowerScore-LSAT-Logical-Reasoning-Bible/dp/0991299221/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1469539163&sr=8-1&keywords=powerscore+logic+reasoning+bible
Books I used but don't recommend:
https://www.amazon.com/PowerScore-LSAT-Reading-Comprehension-Bible/dp/099129923X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1469539188&sr=8-1&keywords=powerscore+reading+comprehension
Get your practice tests here (seriously, do 20+ under timed conditions while filling out LSAT bubble sheets):
https://www.amazon.com/10-Actual-Official-LSAT-PrepTests/dp/0986045519/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1469539233&sr=8-1&keywords=10+lsat+preptests
https://www.amazon.com/Actual-Official-PrepTests-Comparative-Reading/dp/0984636005/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1469539233&sr=8-3&keywords=10+lsat+preptests
Also, use https://7sage.com/
Sign up for a free account, and use their logic game explanations. They also have analytics that will track your progress and spit out analysis concerning where your weak areas are.
Good luck!
Re: books and future topics to explore I found First order logic to be a good replacement for the interesting problems I used to have. Another redditor linked Raymond Smullyan's puzzle books, To Mock a Mockingbird and Forever Undecided which lead me into the former.
If you're used to Erlang you've probably got a leg up on anyone without a logic programming background, but there's still a lot of depth there to get lost in. Good luck! :-)
Edit: Oh, and I've found meditation to help with the most extreme edges of my AD(-H)D fwiw. But being sans hyperactivity it's like a bird telling a fish how to swim, so ymmv.
Crank is an old common term for people who invent fake physics or math. For example :
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0883855070/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_wjfOAbRGJHJWH
(fantastic book by the way) I think it probably spread from there.
The general consensus for novice chess players is to do a few things:
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So let's look at each of those items quickly.
Playing as much as possible.
If you can't play OTB, you still have a billion options. Here are some online options:
Don't have wifi and still need a game? There are plenty of apps for your phone/tablet:
Analyzing your games.
This is crucial. When you are done with your games, go over them and analyze the moves yourself. Where did you/your opponent go wrong? What did you do right? Did you miss tactics or mates? Did your opponent play an opening you were unfamiliar with? Did you reach an uncomfortable endgame and not know how to proceed? If your opponent played the same moves again in a different game, what would you do differently? Answering questions like these on your own will help you in future games.
After your initial analysis, you can then show it to a stronger player (you can submit your games to this subreddit to get criticisms, if you provide your initial analysis along with the PGN) and/or using a program to run a deeper analysis for you. Lichess provides free computer analysis on their site and I also made a quickie SCID/Stockfish tutorial a while back if you want more control over the depth of analysis.
Studying tactics.
"Tactics is almost undoubtedly the most productive single area that beginners and intermediates can study to improve their game - the more practice, the better." -- Dan Heisman (PDF)
There are a ton of places to study tactics online and you should make use of them.
Chess Tempo seems to be the gold standard when it comes to online tactics training. I would start with their standard set (Which means that time isn't a factor. You can stare at a board forever until you find the tactic, and the time won't affect your rating.) at first, but eventually play the other sets as well. I do a mix of each of them every day. Don't make it homework though, or you'll burn out, and chess will feel like a chore.
Don't forget to make use of their endgame trainer. After the first 20, you can only do 2 per day, and I recommend making it a top priority. Studying endgames, even for just a few minutes per day, will be very beneficial to your play.
Chess.com also has a tactics trainer, and for free users you get 5 tactics per day. At the very least, do the 5 chess.com tactics and the Chess Tempo endgames. You can find time for this every day, I assure you.
As a side note, this isn't really tactics but lots of people like this Lichess Coordinates Trainer for learning the names of the squares. If you do this once a day, for both black & white, it will take you about 1 minute. Easy.
Developing your pieces in the opening.
Read Dan Heisman's Beginner Guidelines, which I copied into this thread. At this stage, you don't need to study opening lines. However, whenever you read a point in the opening that you are unfamiliar with, you should look it up in an opening book, database, or online to find the common moves in that position. This will help you spot errors in your play and will set you up for success when you play that line in the future.
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There are a ton of other resources that you should look into.
For videos, I would recommend these channels:
As for books, the ones that seem to be promoted for you level the most are:
There are a bunch of great chess columns out there, but I suggest starting with ChessCafe.com, and specifically Dan Heisman's Novice Nook.
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Well fuck. I thought I was just typing out something quick, but I turned it into a novel. Sorry about that.
Time to eat some pumpkin bread and watch Sunday Night Football!
Indeed; you may feel that you are at a disadvantage compared to your peers, and that the amount of work you need to pull off is insurmountable.
However, you have an edge. You realize you need help, and you want to catch up. Motivation and incentive is a powerful thing.
Indeed, being passionate about something makes you much more likely to remember it. Interestingly, the passion does not need to be a loving one.
A common pitfall when learning math is thinking it is like learning history, philosophy, or languages, where it doesn't matter if you miss out a bit; you will still understand everything later, and the missing bits will fall into place eventually. Math is nothing like that. Math is like building a house. A first step for you should therefore be to identify how much of the foundation of math you have, to know where to start from.
Khan Academy is a good resource for this, as it has a good overview of math, and how the different topics in math relate (what requires understanding of what). Khan Academy also has good exercises to solve, and ways to get help. There are also many great books on mathematics, and going through a book cover-to-cover is a satisfying experience. I have heard people speak highly of Serge Lang's "Basic Mathematics".
Finding sparetime activities to train your analytic and critical thinking skills will also help you immeasurably. Here I recommend puzzle books, puzzle games (I recommend Portal, Lolo, Lemmings, and The Incredible Machine), board/card games (try Eclipse, MtG, and Go), and programming (Scheme or Haskell).
It takes effort. But I think you will find your journey through maths to be a truly rewarding experience.
could try: gardner and moscow. But I'm not sure if thats what you're looking for.
You could pick up the PE study book for your subject.
Have you heard of Project Euler
Então eu recomendo mergulhar no Project Euler. São problemas de matemática/programação que te desafiam a aprender conceitos novos de ambos para resolver. É legal começar dos problemas antigos (no Archive) e ir progredindo.
Sobre livros, eu recomendaria Things to Make and Do in the Fourth Dimension. É uma leitura bem divertida e abrangente.
this might be more appropriate.
My favorite example of this comes from Martin Gardner's book My Best Mathematical and Logic Puzzles. The problem is known as the Hole in the Sphere.
>This is an incredible problem--incredible because it seems to lack sufficient data for a solution. A cylindrical hole six inches long has been drilled straight through the center of a solid sphere. What is the volume remaining in the sphere?
This is just a giant (one might even call it colossal) book of all the things that might make one love math.
Martin Gardner's The Colossal Book of Mathematics.
https://www.amazon.com/Colossal-Book-Mathematics-Paradoxes-Problems/dp/0393020231
Also look at the "frequently bought together" section on the Amazon listing. The Colossal Book of Short Puzzles and Problems is also a masterpiece. I hadn't seen My Best Mathematical and Logical Puzzles before, but now I'm getting it...
Professor Stewart's Cabinet of Mathematical Curiosities is also a lovely book of cool things in math.
https://www.amazon.com/Professor-Stewarts-Cabinet-Mathematical-Curiosities/dp/0465013023
In fact, I'd recommend all of Ian Stewart's books.
I strongly advise you pick up a copy of the PowerScore LG Bible and all this anxiety will melt away.
https://www.amazon.com/PowerScore-Logic-Games-Powerscore-Preparation/dp/0988758660/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1523964677&sr=8-1&keywords=LG+Bible
this one?
Not exactly, this is a problems book. I'm looking for something about puzzles, like The Moscow Puzzles: 359 Mathematical Recreations or The Gödelian Puzzle Book: Puzzles, Paradoxes and Proofs.
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Chess by Patrick Wolff. Don't let the title fool you, there is a lot of good stuff in there for people who aren't idiots. I especially enjoyed his tactics section! He has a great writing style and communicates ideas very well. I highly recommend it, especially if you are ~1000 rating.
Hmm, no reviews. Did you read it, OP? Was it any good?
Check out some Martin Gardner books on mathematical puzzles.
Example: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DP7UJMY/
I feel like the most important thing for people without an express interest in math is just understanding and being comfortable with first-order logic.
Give her a puzzle book like this. You can discuss formalizing some of these problems and solving them systematically with first-order logic. The later problems get fairly sophisticated and get into some Godelian territory.
This is the one I have!
https://www.amazon.com/Blueprint-LSAT-Logic-Games/dp/0984219900/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1499925850&sr=8-1&keywords=blueprint+lsat+logic+games
I have a copy of The Moscow Puzzles. Some of the puzzles are easy and some are really hard! You can buy it for pretty cheap online.
Also, I'm surprised some hasn't said Satan, Cantor, and Infinity yet! It's a fun one, laid out like a story, and mostly deals with mathematical logic as opposed to algebra, geometry, etc.
https://www.amazon.com/Brown-Paper-School-book-Smarty/dp/0316117390
When I was younger, I had Math for smarty pants. It was a very good introduction to a lot of different topics presented in a fun way.
http://www.amazon.com/Brown-Paper-School-book-Smarty/dp/0316117390
I think this is definitely a common feeling. I have not sure how long you have been studying, but it can definitely take time to improve. A good article on how to study for the logic games can be found here: https://magoosh.com/lsat/2016/study-lsat-logic-games/
Learning the setups is key. I personally recommend the Logic Games Bible workbook (and the Logic Game bible itself). They were the two books that helped me the most in my studies because they really focused on game setup. Once I could master the game setups, I found that I could really master any game I was faced with. https://www.amazon.com/PowerScore-Logic-Games-Bible-Workbook/dp/0991299213/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1485200437&sr=8-3&keywords=logic+games+bible
Good luck!
There we go. Book 1.
Book 2.
Enjoy. If those two flew over your head, try this:
You're welcome.
will make the deadline, one sec!
edit:
Sorry I'm an ass =)
I even copied the hand signal for extra proof!
linky
The three trustworthy LSAT prep are 7Sage, PowerScore, and LSAT Trainer.
I recommend learning logical reasoning (LR) for LSAT Trainer, logic games (LG) from the PowerScore logic games bible. Use 7Sage for their free LG explanations for when you move on to the prep tests.
So, for the self studying LSAT student, purchase:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0988758660/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1501893820&sr=8-3&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=powerscore&dpPl=1&dpID=51OJB5MwfNL&ref=plSrch
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0989081532/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1501893890&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=lsat+trainer&dpPl=1&dpID=41XYSgqXD6L&ref=plSrch
And as many of these as you can: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0986045519/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1501893927&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=lsat+preptest&dpPl=1&dpID=41nM%2BRt7N9L&ref=plSrch
And here's 7Sage: https://7sage.com/
I'm posting on my phone, so I'm sorry for the format of all this
I think this is what you're looking for
This is probably the best book for beginners, assuming you want to learn Hold 'Em.
There are probably a couple boolean logic ones? I haven't played a lot of logic games. I used to play a game called tis-100 which is a game about a weird parallel assembly type language that I found pretty fun, it has some logic elements to it. It looks like there are a few logic games on the android playstore but I can't vouch for any specifically.
I know a couple books that looked kind of fun:
https://www.amazon.com/Mock-Mockingbird-Raymond-Smullyan/dp/0192801422?SubscriptionId=AKIAILSHYYTFIVPWUY6Q&tag=duckduckgo-ffab-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=0192801422
Some of the recommended ones for this book that popped up for me looked cool as well.
Dover has some cool looking recreational logic books.
You can also always try and make new formulas to work on for yourself by using chapters from topics that you already covered as inspiration.
So if you know propositional logic then you can make some propositional arguments and try to prove or refute them for yourself.
Danica McKellar (Winnie Cooper from the Wonder Years, Elsie on West Wing) has written some books about math for girls. I haven't read them, but they've received a LOT of press, so it might be worth it. http://www.amazon.com/Danica-McKellar/e/B001JP7Z7G/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1
As a kid, my favorite was Math for Smarty Pants
You're at a 152, and you want to jump 13 points. You have a little over five months, and two breaks (Thanksgiving and winter/holiday break).
I know literally nothing about you except for what is included in that post, but I'd say you can improve 13 points (from a 152; would be a different story if you were at a 165 trying to improve 13 points to a 178) in five months.
I've gone through most of the legitimate books. From your post, I'm assuming you've only read/are reading the Powerscore books.
I'd recommend:
The LSAT Trainer,
Manhattan LSAT Logical Reasoning, and
The Blueprint for LSAT Logic Games
You said you're looking for vast LR improvement; if you can do that with the Logical Reasoning bible, great! That means you're smarter than I am, because I couldn't do it. MLSAT LR and The LSAT Trainer are significantly better at helping with LR. It's really not even comparable. As regards LG, PS LG is still very solid, relative ordering notwithstanding (I think PS calls it sequencing? the whole tree, with A > G/D etc.). I personally like Blueprint LG a little better, but with hard work, PS LG can definitely get you there.
There is a noticeable difference between MLSAT LR/LSAT Trainer and Powerscore LR.
After reading the books, you need to practice, and get familiar with individual question types/game types. How you want to do that is up to you, but I used the Cambridge LSAT bundle. It divides PTs 1-38 into question types for LR, game types for LG, and passage types for RC, so that you can focus on problem areas and work on proper habits/seeing patterns. It also has PTs 39-68 untouched, so you can just use them as regular tests. If you don't want to buy the whole shebang, I'd recommend you at least get the LR and LG bundles.
tl;dr: 152 to 165 in five months is definitely doable. Get The LSAT Trainer, Manhattan LSAT Logical Reasoning, the Blueprint for Logic Games (optional), and the Cambridge sets.
Here are the links to what I referenced in this post:
http://www.amazon.com/The-LSAT-Trainer-remarkable-self-driven/dp/0989081508/ref=sr_sp-atf_title_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1377229180&sr=8-1&keywords=THE+LSAT+trainer
http://www.amazon.com/The-Blueprint-LSAT-Logic-Games/dp/0984219900/ref=sr_sp-atf_title_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1377229201&sr=8-1&keywords=Blueprint+for+LSAT
http://www.amazon.com/Manhattan-Logical-Reasoning-Strategy-Edition/dp/193570785X/ref=sr_sp-atf_title_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1377229214&sr=8-2&keywords=Manhattan+LR
http://www.cambridgelsat.com/bundles/ultimate-prep-package/
HTH
Think of the rule against perpetuities as one of those logic puzzles you used to do for fun as a kid.
Getting Started in Holdem by Ed Miller is the best book to start with.
http://www.amazon.com/Getting-Started-Hold-em-Miller/dp/1880685345
If you like abstract number puzzles (like sudokus), there are a whole bunch of obscure japanese stuff you can use for inspiration.
If you like truth tellers and liars style logic puzzles, Smullyan has written several books on that. I'd recommend checking out The lady or the Tiger from a nearby library.
If you want riddles, check out /r/riddles . For example.
ok jk u gonna buy dis
Trying to answer this as best I can from memory:
Source: U.S. J.D. Self-prepped for LSAT.
Edit: words are so hard.
Well, we work on a lot of problem solving and puzzle books. It started out with things to prepare for the NNAT and OLSAT standardized tests that they give to place kids into kindergarten in NYC but he really enjoyed it. So now that's over I recently bought the 3 lollipop logic books that we work on together:
https://www.amazon.com/Lollipop-Logic-Grades-K-2-Book/dp/1593630921
I was recently thinking about how lucky I was that my parents bought us a computer in 1986. Tandy 1000 EX with dual floppy drives. It cost something like $3,000, which was a fucking lot of money back then. Like 1/30th of a house or something. They weren't computer people, but they had this sense that it would be important for us in the future, and that single action has defined my entire life trajectory. Sure I played video games, but then I got into programming, I ran a Renegade BBS, I was one of the first people in my town to dial up to a non-AOL ISP and get on the internet, I studied Computer Science, and now I make 3 times as much as my dad when when he retired after 35 years, even though he basically ran a city and 500 people worked for him.
So.... what is it that I can get my kids interested in at a young age that will give them that same leg up, now that computers and technology are basically something everyone uses from birth? I've asked this of a lot of people and there are only two career paths that people think will be specialized, high paying, and define the future. Genetic programming and robotics.
Genetic programming is obviously too advanced for a 4 year old but robots aren't. Everything might be automated in the future, but they'll still need people who can design and build robots. So we've been playing with Cubetto, which is cool because it teaches kids both robots and programming and even little kids can do it, check it out.
https://www.primotoys.com/
It's very cute and basically fool proof. Once they get older and more sophisticated we can look at the more complex lego robots and things like that.
Beyond that, my 4 year old takes violin lessons on saturdays and i sit with him to practice 3 or 4 times during the week. I try to keep it fun and I get my flugelhorn out and we do the exercises together so he starts to learn that it's not just individual notes being played but phrasing, articulation, and stuff like that. Then the 2 year old runs in and wants to play the violin afterwards.
http://www.amazon.com/Colossal-Book-Mathematics-Paradoxes-Problems/dp/0393020231
Martin Gardner's Colossal Book of Mathematics. It has a lot of really cool recreational math that is accessible and engaging.
I personally found a ton of great advice in Doyle's Super/System, but it's a bit much for just starting out. There are a lot of great theory/advanced books out there once you get into it. Check out David Sklansky, Dan Harrington for starters. Gonna second P-Nuts' recommendation for Getting Started in Hold 'Em to get your feet wet.
The Moscow Puzzles: 359 Mathematical Recreations (Dover Recreational Math) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0486270785/ref=cm_sw_r_other_awd_WQ.MwbMF4XZ4N
I recommend the following book for getting a good overview of modern mathematics: The Princeton Companion to Mathematics although it is a bit pricey (though less expensive than the average textbook). It is extremely well written, even if it doesn't necessarily hit all the details. It focuses more on an intuitive understanding of many modern mathematical concepts so that more formal and detailed treatments. The authors wrote the book to help math students get up to speed about various different fields of math as well as help working mathematicians better communicate across different disciplines.
Martin Gardeners books are good too. I specifically like The Colossal Book of Mathematics and The Colossal Book of Short Puzzles and Problems. His books tend to be very problem oriented rather than theory building, whereas the Princeton Companion is more expository. While Gardeners Colossal books are quite a bit shorter than the companion, I read them more slowly since I often stop to work on the problems he presents.
I think it helps to realize that there isn't any particular order to learning different kinds of math. High School and elementary schools set math up like there's a clear hierarchy to all the material, but that's not necessarily the case. For example, you don't need Calculus to do basic Graph Theory or elementary Set Theory.
There are lists of textbook recommendations on /r/math but these are the books I would recommend without knowing much about your current skills or interests.
A few notable resources I think are Martin Gardner's puzzle books (example linked), XKCD's puzzle wiki and forum, Math SE (pick your field), project euler; personally I quite like exchanging puzzles with friends and family, or just thinking about interesting/challenging questions loosely related to my fields of study such as this (I'm not Did).
The fun about puzzles is they often require only elementary math, but also often theories will give you ideas or let you find a solution much more quickly (great motivator for learning theories!)
If you have a good problem or puzzle in mind, it is impossible to be bored or idle -- you have the company of your challenge at any time :)
(p.s. try not to nerd snipe yourself :) )
All desserts are yummy treats
All birthday oreo cookies are deserts
Therefore, All oreo cookies are yummy treats
Logic puzzles just for you!
Thanks for the contest! :)
Logic puzzle book
You love doing logic problems.
This book is full of logic problems.
Therefore, you'll love this book.
:)
I had this book once, I think. I know I had something by these guys and they were great.
I don't remember very much from my logic class, but I'll give it a shot.
Onyx is a cat that I own.
All cats rule their owners.
Therefore, Onyx rules me.
I don't even remember if that is right XD, sorry if I just butchered it. I'm in nursing school and have found pretty much all of my classes to be brought into my daily life. But I will share this... Before I knew what I wanted to do, I took an anatomy and physiology class. I loved it and the teacher, and that class was the reason for my decision to get into nursing. One thing that I learned that blew my mind was the reason behind nervous peeing. Have you ever noticed that no matter when you pee'd last, if you get really nervous (like you're getting ready to take a test) then you will have the urge to pee again? It's because when you're nervous, your blood pressure goes up and your body is trying to regulate your blood pressure. I keep that in mind before tests so that I won't get really anxious and have to pee XD.
This is sort of logic related. I LOVED doing these puzzles as a kid, so I stopped looking when I found this book.
Thanks for the contest, and I hope you enjoy your last day!
Hmmm... different kind of logic but it looks very interesting, thanks for the suggestion!
All problems I like are logic problems
All books identical to this book are full of logic problems.
Therefore, All books identical to this book are books I will love.
Cool! Thank you haha
The I HATE MATHEMATICS! Book
Math for Smarty Pants
I remember picking up both of these books at -some- point during elementary school book fairs. I have always really liked math, but they do have some interesting topics and random facts. The topics are always pretty short - I remember quite a few on statistics in various forms. I'm not sure they would 100% work for what you are looking for but they might be able to form springboards for projects?
These aren't novels, but I really enjoyed these books around that age:
The I Hate Mathematics Book
Math for Smarty Pants
They taught me a lot of fun math puzzles and concepts for the first time (prime numbers, perfect numbers, basic combinatorics, math magic tricks), each with a bit of a story attached.
I'm gonna second the recommendation for mathematics. In particular, I'd check out My Best Mathematical and Logic Puzzles written by that great mathematical puzzle maker, Martin Gardner. You can get the book new for about $1.50 on Amazon, and it's sure to challenge you to think laterally.
If your interested in actually studying some mathematics, I'd recommend combinatorics as a branch of math that is very problem-oriented and that requires much lateral thinking.
Buy
and
and read em both and love em to death and thank me later.
Before you try to throw books at the problem, try to understand where your kids coming from. The public education system makes a huge effort to crush any enthusiasm a child may have for math; I know I didn't really like it when I was that old either. As a parent, you should read the essay A Mathematician's Lament, by Paul Lockhart. Math can be amazingly interesting and rewarding, but how would they know that? It is your job to show them, and this begins with you yourself becoming interested in and passionate about the subject.
Alright, now I'll start being helpful. Just promise me you'll read that essay.
Martin Gardner's books are kind of the classic books for getting kids into math. Check out the summaries and reviews of Aha! Gotcha, for example. You might also want to pick up The Colossal Book of Mathematics. Read it yourself and try to involve your kids in it as you do.
If they're more into hands-on stuff, check out How Round Is Your Circle?. It's all about building mathematical objects.
The Phantom Tollbooth is another great book, but not so mathematically oriented.
Basically, it's going to take a lot of work on your part, because you can't just hope they'll do it on their own. It's up to you to show them the wonder of mathematics.
Edit: I just realized they're not your kids, they're your niece and nephew. My mistake! Anyway, take from this what you will. Maybe you can convince the parents to get involved?
The powerscore logic games bible helped me a lot with the logic portion. Looks like you can rent it on amazon for $24
Things to Make and Do in the Fourth Dimension: A Mathematician's Journey Through Narcissistic Numbers, Optimal Dating Algorithms, at Least Two Kinds of Infinity, and More
As I said, I do not have the Colossal Book, so I can't make comparisons.
The CD contains the PDF of these books:
What I did mean is that the CD contains the scans of these 15 books, not the scans of the original columns appeared in Scientific American.
Another book worth considering is "The Moscow Puzzles: 359 Mathematical Recreations" that, if I remember correctly, contains only puzzles, not diversions as in the case of Martin Gardner books.
Lots and lots of problems in mathematics are tricky and fun to solve. So I think you'll have to be more specific. Is there a particular area in mathematics that interests you? Can you give an example of a problem that you find interesting?
Edit: Maybe something like one of Martin Gardner's books would interest you?
op chess is an extremely weird game. I was born with high functioning autism (which I've overcome) and was pretty bad in school at an early age. But for some reason I was a talented chess player. My parents were really confused. I just knew how it worked as soon as I started picking up the game. I think within a year of learning it from my dad I was able to beat him (this was when I was 7). Chess isn't necessarily about intelligence; it's a combination of logic and visual understanding. Essentially, everyone starts at a different level. Improving is up to you. You need to read up on some opening game theory for starters. Get the basics down. Eventually you'll start to see certain patterns; things like forks, pins, checkmates, etc. It's all a matter of practice. Try doing some chess puzzles. They really help. And I highly recommend reading http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Idiots-Guide-Chess-Edition/dp/1592573169. It really helped me start the development of my game when I was about 10 or so.
This is mentioned as a joke in the book To mock a mockingbird.
Great book, for those who like this kind of stuff.
I read This Book Needs No Title first and then The Tao Is Silent (that title felt like it would be a book requiring some serious effort to read -- not at all so! These are among the books that just made me giggle while reading them). I would naturally suggest the same order, though I don't know if there's anything more to that than my own experience.
As long as we're at it, if you liked one of his puzzle books, you'd probably enjoy others -- the ones I've read all start in roughly the same way and then diverge (discussing, e.g., Infinity, Gödel's theorem, and combinatory logic through puzzles).
EDIT: Oh, and if you've come across Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, that's a much more Western approach to some of the same ideas. Also recommended -- although this one does feel much heavier.
I made this post some time ago about affective non-fictional books; you should, well, you should read all of them, really. :-) But particularly Impro if you ever have the chance.
do some puzzle books with him. sullyman's books are really fun as is this book
If this makes it easier for you? This is like limbo. How low can I get.
So it's just this book from the sidebar, right? Thanks for the advice.
I really like to "find" music,
I enjoy puzzles,
Ask me about my milkshake,
Mozzarella is my favorite cheese &
I am a computer science major
Edit: formatting edit.
Do NOT get a Kaplan book.
You should get the Blueprint LG Book as well as the Powerscore LR Book
You should also buy LSAT Preptests, probably from around 30-the most recent one (currently 71)
My general rule of thumb when buying grid logic books is "If at all possible, ensure that the puzzles that you are buying were made by a person, and not churned out by a computer."
With Picross puzzles, that's hard to guarantee. Usually, the creator makes the picture, makes sure the clues that would have to exist are ones that make the puzzle solvable, and if not, they tweak it until it is solvable. If you're focused on the picture aspect of it, then it really doesn't matter which book you buy.
With that said, who's making hand-created Picross puzzles? I have no idea. This book looks promising.
If you're more interested in the logic aspect of it and not so much the picture at the end, then the logic rabbit hole goes down very deep indeed, and I'd be more than happy to give you some recommendations on that front. Picross puzzles were, once upon a time, my gateway drug to puzzles with a bit more logical depth.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1615640320/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_IOa8CbVP4GR50
Blackistheonlycolor, I largely agree with this post but I would like to share a few thoughts.
Self Study is THE way to prepare for the LSAT. I think an LSAT course is only a good option if you need more help grasping the basics than self study is providing.
The books that PhiPsiSciFi provided are certainly good, but I think there are a few changes which could maximize your prep. My book recommendation list would be:
Total is $461. Now I realize that is significantly more money that the list given above, but if you can swing it, you will get a lot more bang for your buck. The Manhattan LSAT books tend to be a little bit better than the Powerscore ones. The Powerscore Logic Games Bible is certainly a great asset to have, which is why I included it here, but the LR Bible doesn't flow as well as Manhattan's and the RC Bible is nowhere near as good. The next big difference is that my list includes PTs 1-40 only as drills instead of complete tests. The earlier tests are quite a bit different than the modern LSAT, so while you won't get an extremely representative score by taking the full PTs, you can get improve by having the questions broken down into drills. That said, if there was anything you wanted to take off this list, The Cambridge LR 1-20 and RC 1-20 aren't 100% necessary. They are certainly nice to have, but you can only realistically do so many drills and it will be better to do the more modern ones found in PTs 21-40. But if you are planning to study for 6+ months, get 1-20 as well as 21-40. You will want to get all of the Logic Games though. Personally, I think PDF works better because you will want to re-print several of them to complete multiple times. You will also want to re-do every logic game section from tests 40+, which isn't really necessary for the LR and RC sections.
The rest of my list is pretty much the same. I added PT 72 and you will want to get 73 when that comes out too. Overall, you will get 24 PTs from my suggestions (20 from the two books, 3 from SuperPrep, and PT 72. Obviously you hit 25 if you get PT 73 as well) which should be plenty. If you needed anymore buy the individual PTs from 41 up. I know this is a good bit of money, but it is soooo much cheaper than any reputable LSAT Course and it is more effective too.
Powerscore does have a type training book which is filled with all of the logic games for pt 1-20 that can be a good for drilling. They also make a workbook which has less games, but they are more recent and provides very in depth explanations to each game.
Not sure if that answers you questions but this is what came to mind.
When I was a kid I LOVED math for smarty pants. Lots of fun problems and games presented by illustrated characters. Several of the reviewers mention using this book with 6th graders, so I'm not sure how that compares to your son's age. The amazon link has a preview of the book. Teaches you things like how to figure out which weekday (Monday, Tuesday, etc.) you were born using only the date and what comes after a trillion (quadrillion, quintillion, etc.)
Amazon link for "Math for Smarty Pants" by Marilyn Burns, with a "Look Inside" feature to see some of the book.
I didn't read this book until around 1995 or so, well after the book was originally published. I picked it up again at my university library for kicks - it's still a pretty amazing book! If you know a kid in the later years of grade school who's into math, you should definitely get them a copy of this.
EDIT: Obviously I was inspired by this thread, but this book is aimed more towards 9-12 year olds I feel.
I will definitely be suggesting this book of Gardner's, thanks!
The max size on all the DS games iirc are 20x15 but there aren't a ton which is a bummer because the DS ones play so easily... I know the online ones can have much bigger but I'm not familiar with any by name since apparently Picross Time is no more. I googled Picross online and found some others. The game also goes by other names with Nonogram being the actual non-brand name (I think) so you may find more that way.
To any interested Nintendo Switch owners, Picross S comes out next week.
There are also a ton of app variants for mobile but I can't attest to any in particular.
It also comes in book form and these can be in the 40+ size, so if you don't mind losing the stylus, I recommend this and similar ones in the series:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1934287113/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_cQzYzb83EZJ2G
Martin Gardener's books could provide some nice entrypoints. Here's one of them: http://www.amazon.com/Colossal-Book-Short-Puzzles-Problems/dp/0393061140/
In addition, it could be a good idea to pick up some sort of book of logic games. When you get closer to the LSAT, you'll want to study specifically for the test, but even before that, you might want to pick up something more casual like this just to get used to that sort of puzzle (although after the LSAT, you'll never need to do another logic game again).
This book blew my mind time and again growing up. Though 13 may be a little old for the book, it's certainly a great read for children who show a love of math.
Sure, here's one
The Moscow Puzzles: 359 Mathematical Recreations (Dover Recreational Math)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0486270785/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_RBsqDbC246AYX
Amazon Link
This is a cool book:
https://www.amazon.com/Moscow-Puzzles-Mathematical-Recreations-Recreational/dp/0486270785
> You're an awesome person and an awesome response! I would love to read your dissertation if possible!
>
Ha, that's actually a pretty boring read! If you want a book that might start to change your mind about math try The Lady or the Tiger by Raymond Smullyan. Smullyan was a brilliant mathematician (and philosopher, Toaist, and concert pianist), who died a few months ago. The book is filled with awesome puzzles - the same kind you might find on an LSAT - which progress in difficulty and really challenge you to think!
If you're craving more after that, then Forever Undecided by the same author introduces the concepts of something called Godel's Incompleteness Theorems without using any of what most people might call "math". It's really quite fascinating (my favorite mathematical theorem, actually), and beautifully put together. I always recommend any of his books to people who "hate math" but "love puzzles".
If you and your kid ever run into problems with their math homework, check out /r/learnmath. It's an awesome subreddit, frequented by a lot of mathematicians, where we try to help people in situations just like that.
If someone can come up with an entire booklet of bird names for combinators, I think we can come up with at least slightly better names here.
The book that worked best for me was the Blueprint LG book, linked below. Some people prefer other guides, but I think blueprint is more entertaining than LG Bible. Once you figure out a method that works for you, focus on doing as many games as you can to work on speed. 7sage explanations can definitely help as well.
Blueprint-LSAT-Logic-Games
It is all patterns. Once you learn how to make inferences from the rules, you will be in good shape!
Good luck with LSAT prep!
>They're all wrong because you lack the tools necessary to comprehend why you're wrong. But that doesn't matter because the courts side with what's actually factual, and not your warped misunderstood version.
Hmm. Patient still shows a complete misunderstanding of the argument. Insists someone is wrong without citing proof or logically proving it.
>Lol? "Cherry Picking". K.
Patient has regressed to Facebook levels of discourse. Only complete word is a quote of someone else.
>Right after you learn how to comprehend. Reading and comprehending what is written are two very different things.
Patient seems to be impervious to the irony of their own statement.
>If you want to be an ideologue with no clue what you're talking about, that's fine by me. If you want to better yourself and actually understand things, and why they are, that's fine be me too. I have no horse in this race. The rulings, all of them, are on my side. The courts agree with my argument, not yours. If you have an issue with it, take it up with the supreme court and the definitions of contemporary English in the 1700's, not me.
Patient has made the false assumption that just because 5 judges misruled that means that it won't be overturned in later years. Has apparently never heard of insert case here.
Patient stands by their cherry picking. Prescribing reading material: Logic
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