Dissections

Plane and Fancy

Greg N. Frederickson

322 pages, parution le 24/03/2003

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Résumé

Can you cut an octagon into 5 pieces and rearrange them into a square? How about turning a star into a pentagon? These are just two of the infinite challenges of geometric dissections, the mathematical art of cutting figures into pieces that can be rearranged to form other figures, using as few pieces as possible. This book shows you many ingenious ways to solve these problems and the beautiful constructions you can create.

Through the ages, geometric dissections have fascinated puzzle fans and great mathematicians alike. Here you will find dissections known to Plato alongside exciting new discoveries. The author explains solution methods carefully, assuming only a basic knowledge of high school geometry, then poses puzzles for you to solve.

He also introduces the people - famous, not-so-famous, and obscure - who have worked on these problems, travelling from the palace school of tenth-century Baghdad to the mathematical puzzle columns in turn-of-the-century newspapers, from the 1900 Paris Congress of Mathematicians to the night sky of Canberra.

This beautifully illustrated book will provide hours of enjoyment for any mathematical puzzle enthusiast.

Contents

'Dat Pussle'
Our geometric universe
Fearful symmetry
It's hip to be a square
Triangles and friends
All polygons created equal
First steps
Step right up!
Watch your step!
Just tessellating
Plain out-stripped
Strips teased
Tessellations completed
Maltese crosses
Curves ahead
Stardom
Farewell, my Lindgren
The new breed
When polygons aren't regular
On to solids
Cubes rationalized
Prisms reformed
Cheated, bamboozled, and hornswoggled
Solutions to all our problems

Caractéristiques techniques

	PAPIER
Éditeur(s)	Cambridge University Press
Auteur(s)	Greg N. Frederickson
Parution	24/03/2003
Nb. de pages	322
Format	17,7 x 23,4
Couverture	Broché
Poids	537g
Intérieur	Noir et Blanc
EAN13	9780521525824
ISBN13	978-0-521-52582-4