This series aims to capture new and exciting work in Recreational Mathematics, loosely defined as ‘mathematics arising from recreational and esthetic pursuits’, though we are happy to bend that definition to accommodate almost anything that explores mathematics with a spirit of creativity, and curiosity. In the past century, Recreational Mathematics has proven itself as a way to engage a wider audience with the subject, and also as a catalyst for deep research in the field.
The remit of the series is extremely broad, featuring books taking a mathematical approach to puzzles, games, origami, visual arts, literary arts, performing arts, history, magic and more besides.
We welcome all manner of text-types, though we do especially value those books that can be used in an educational setting and which are accessible to readers with minimal mathematical background.
If you have a manuscript, proposal, or even just the beginnings of an idea, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
By John H. Conway, Heidi Burgiel, Chaim Goodman-Strauss
April 18, 2008
Start with a single shape. Repeat it in some way—translation, reflection over a line, rotation around a point—and you have created symmetry. Symmetry is a fundamental phenomenon in art, science, and nature that has been captured, described, and analyzed using mathematical concepts for a long time. ...
By Colm Mulcahy
September 04, 2013
Mathematical card effects offer both beginning and experienced magicians an opportunity to entertain with a minimum of props. Featuring mostly original creations, Mathematical Card Magic: Fifty-Two New Effects presents an entertaining look at new mathematically based card tricks. Each chapter ...
By Robert J. Lang
October 05, 2011
The magnum opus of one of the world’s leading origami artists, the second edition of Origami Design Secrets reveals the underlying concepts of origami and how to create original origami designs. Containing step-by-step instructions for 26 models, this book is not just an origami cookbook or list of...
By John Stillwell
July 13, 2010
Winner of a CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title Award for 2011!This book offers an introduction to modern ideas about infinity and their implications for mathematics. It unifies ideas from set theory and mathematical logic, and traces their effects on mainstream mathematical topics of today, such as ...
Edited
By Robert J. Lang
August 05, 2009
The connections between origami, mathematics, science, technology, and education have been a topic of considerable interest now for several decades. While many individuals have happened upon discrete connections among these fields during the twentieth century, the field really took off when ...
By Robert A. Hearn, Erik D. Demaine
June 30, 2009
The authors show that there are underlying mathematical reasons for why games and puzzles are challenging (and perhaps why they are so much fun). They also show that games and puzzles can serve as powerful models of computation—quite different from the usual models of automata and circuits—offering...
Edited
By sarah-marie belcastro, Carolyn Yackel
December 12, 2007
Mathematical craftwork has become extremely popular, and mathematicians and crafters alike are fascinated by the relationship between their crafts. The focus of this book, written for mathematicians, needleworkers, and teachers of mathematics, is on the relationship between mathematics and the ...
By Peter Winkler
August 17, 2007
Peter Winkler is at it again. Following the enthusiastic reaction to Mathematical Puzzles: A Connoisseur's Collection, Peter has compiled a new collection of elegant mathematical puzzles to challenge and entertain the reader. The original puzzle connoisseur shares these puzzles, old and new, so ...
By Elwyn R. Berlekamp, John H. Conway, Richard K. Guy
March 30, 2004
In the quarter of a century since three mathematicians and game theorists collaborated to create Winning Ways for Your Mathematical Plays, the book has become the definitive work on the subject of mathematical games. Now carefully revised and broken down into four volumes to accommodate new ...
By Peter Winkler
December 26, 2003
Collected over several years by Peter Winkler, of Bell Labs, dozens of elegant, intriguing challenges are presented in Mathematical Puzzles. The answers are easy to explain, but without this book, devilishly hard to find. Creative reasoning is the key to these puzzles. No involved computation or ...
By Elwyn R. Berlekamp
July 18, 2000
The game of Dots-and-Boxes, the popular game in which two players take turns connecting an array of dots to form squares, or "boxes" has long been considered merely a child's game. In this book, however, the author reveals the surprising complexity of the game, along with advanced strategies that ...