Ancient Puzzles: Classic Brainteasers and Other Timeless Mathematical Games of the Last Ten Centuries

Match wits with the great minds of the world’s greatest civilizations in this fascinating collection of ancient conundrums brainteasers and mind-benders.
Dominic Olivastro presents a popular history of mathematics by focusing on the puzzles that civilizations posed for their own education and entertainment. Here are classic “puzzle problems” from ancient Africa Egypt Persia China and Greece and from cultures and texts spanning the Middle Ages and the Renaissance all the way to the present.

Each puzzle is linked with insightful folk and scientific history that helps shed light on the mysterious purpose and origin of the problem. Fascinating clues for figuring out answers draw on modern problem-solving techniques and lead to ancient secrets that before now have rarely been understood. Whether you decipher them for their historical significance classical wisdom or just for the sheer maddening fun of it these delightful puzzles provide a unique entertaining and enlightening guide to the evolution of the human mind.