Martin Gardner, as the Master of Mathematical Games and Puzzles, has used his personal exuberance and his fascination with puzzles and magic to entice a wide range of readers into a world of mathematical discovery. As the author of Scientific American's "Mathematical Games" column for 25 years, he gained a large following among puzzlers, magicians, and mathematicians.

In the years since then, Gardner has continued to write articles for academic journals and popular magazines. Forty-one of those pieces, never before published in book form, are collected in this volume.

Truly a treat for Martin Gardner's many fans, the articles span a wide range of topics. They include games of chance (and why a "computer" will always beat a human player), word ladders and mathematical word play games, tiling puzzles, magic squares, computer and calculator "magic" tricks, and other mathematical puzzles.

Providing the tools to furnish our all-too-sluggish minds with an athletic workout, Gardner's problems foster an agility of the mind as they entertain.