Mage Merlin's unsolved mathematical mysteries
- Cambridge : MIT Press, 2020
- xiii, 101 p.; ill. color images 24 cm
Includes bibliographical references.
This is a graphically bold, story-driven book, accessible to readers with a middle-school math background, that engagingly introduces readers to 16 unsolved mathematical puzzles. There are two main (fictional) characters in the book: "Mage" Maryam (named in honour of the late Maryam Mirzakhani, the only woman Fields Medallist), a young female mathematician who discovers that she is a descendant of the other main character, Merlin (of the Arthurian fables). Before she dies, Maryam's grandmother hands her Merlin's lost math journal containing problems he was summoned by Camelot to solve but failed to do so. Maryam briefly introduces the 16 entries from Merlin's journal (and the corresponding math topic), then Merlin describes the problem (accompanied by beautiful illustrations), then Maryam follows up with a deeper explanation of the math, the history of the puzzle, and how close mathematicians have come to solving it.
9780262542753
Mathematical recreations Mathematical puzzles Logic Recreations Games