Rating: 
Summary: loved it
Review:
This latest book of Pickover's never ceases to amaze me. There are 100s of puzzles, some playful, some very deep. The numerous illustrations make this book a delight. My favorite chapters were those on how to create caverns using simple rules, Faberge egg synthesis, Gaussian frothlike bubbles produce by fractals, and Spidery Math. I also liked some of the unusual surveys. Something for everyone! The range of problems is so extraordinary that I think even middle school students would like many parts of this book -- yet the book will also appeal to seasoned mathematicians and grad students. The publisher has some of the computer code on a web page, but you don't need a computer to have fun with this book.
The book has a walloping 125 short chapters divided into 4 main sections titled: 1) "Fun Puzzles and Quick Thoughts," 2) "Quirky Questions, Lists, and Surveys," 3) "Fiendishly Difficult Digital Delights," and 4) "The Peruvian Collection." Sample chapter titles: "Attack of the Amateurs" (describes how amateurs have made progress in math), "The Fractal Society" (games played on fractal playing boards), "Einstein, Ramanujan, Hawking" (some thought-provoking questions), "A Ranking of the Five Saddest Mathematical Scandals" (hard to guess), "The Spring of Khosrow Carpet" (recipes for creating Persian carpets), "Schizophrenic Numbers" (weird stuff!), and "The Emerald Gambit" (fun puzzle).
Buy the book and feed your head (or your kid's head).
Rating:
Summary: Excellent, Broad, Fun, Challenging, Thought Provoking
Review:
This latest book of Pickover's never ceases to amaze me. There are 100s of puzzles, some playful, some very deep. The numerous illustrations make this book a delight. My favorite chapters were those on how to create caverns using simple rules, Faberge egg synthesis, Gaussian frothlike bubbles produce by fractals, and Spidery Math. I also liked some of the unusual surveys. Something for everyone! The range of problems is so extraordinary that I think even middle school students would like many parts of this book -- yet the book will also appeal to seasoned mathematicians and grad students. The publisher has some of the computer code on a web page, but you don't need a computer to have fun with this book.
The book has a walloping 125 short chapters divided into 4 main sections titled: 1) "Fun Puzzles and Quick Thoughts," 2) "Quirky Questions, Lists, and Surveys," 3) "Fiendishly Difficult Digital Delights," and 4) "The Peruvian Collection." Sample chapter titles: "Attack of the Amateurs" (describes how amateurs have made progress in math), "The Fractal Society" (games played on fractal playing boards), "Einstein, Ramanujan, Hawking" (some thought-provoking questions), "A Ranking of the Five Saddest Mathematical Scandals" (hard to guess), "The Spring of Khosrow Carpet" (recipes for creating Persian carpets), "Schizophrenic Numbers" (weird stuff!), and "The Emerald Gambit" (fun puzzle).
Buy the book and feed your head (or your kid's head).
Rating: 
Summary: Zero Substance
Review: After reading this book (I do not bother reading even a half), many would be thrilled that they now has ten times of stuff about mathematics to talk about on a coffe table, but they should also realize that they know exactly as much mathematics as they had before.
Rating:
Summary: A plentitude of petite puzzles to ponder
Review: I really enjoyed this book. There's a tremendous number of interesting questions raised, many of them currently unanswered. Not a huge amount of depth on any particular question but each chapter has it's own "alter ego" at the back in the "further investigations" part of the book with answers (when they're known) and resources to take off on your own. The book actually becomes most interesting when you're not reading it - when you've set it aside and started thinking about the interesting ideas on your own. Most of these problems are simple enough to comprehend that you can immediately start making new little discoveries on your own if you're even a little mathematical. Very "Martin Gardner"ish in that sense, and in my book there's no higher compliment to pay to a book than to compare it to Gardner's classics. So if you have a mathematical bone in your body and you want to exercise it this is a great book to use as a springboard into really interesting and big ideas.
Rating:
Summary: A Wonderful Book
Review: Now here is a fine weekend escape - a delightful book to be read with one's feet up and an ice cold beverage all the while contemplating the wonders of numbers. Mostly about the integers, there are such mathematical adventures as 2, 3, and 4 dimensional magic squares, numbers so huge they require special notation and easily dwarf the number of atoms in the known universe, fractal number sequences, Mozart numbers, and lots of other fun things in the 125 chapters. My favorite numbers are the Schizophrenic numbers (Chapter 93) which when evaluated to 500 digits reveal patterns of seemingly random digits alternating with chains of repetitions of identical digits. The book is especially entertaining for the connections shown between some of these numbers and music, art, science, and other areas of mathematics. For additional enjoyment the Further Exploring section offers additional background including references to books and web sites and also some challenges to readers - a few of which even include a cash prize. And, best of all Wonders of Numbers is written in plain English and accompanied by splendid graphics, lively anecdotes, and a generous supply of epigraphs. A fun way to while away a weekend.
Rating: 
Summary: Doesn't do it for me.
Review: Pickover always chooses interesting topics to write about, as described elsewhere on this page, but here there are just too many. When he lets himself spend five pages on a topic ("Cards, Frogs, and Fractal Sequences"), it is fascinating. With more care, this could have been a strong Gardner-like book of 14 chapters. Instead, we have the recycled correspondence of "Dr. Googol" along with short descriptions of games nobody plays with notes like "Mathematicians and philosophers will no doubt spend many years pondering a range of questions...". I won't. I found this type of pronouncement a turn-off, even when it was "Dr. Googol" making it rather than Pickover. To cram in 123 topics, Pickover is forced to give us links to software available on the web (perhaps this would be more appealing to readers whose tastes run more towards problem solving and exploring on the computer rather than with pencil and paper) or to other books and papers. This isn't a book; it's a website. OK, maybe that's a bit harsh. It's a website you can take into the bathroom with you.
Rating:
Summary: The best "Pickover" I've read
Review: Pickover fans will buy and enjoy this book - his 26th by my rough count. But if you aren't a fan, if you've tasted and returned to the kitchen previous titles by Mr. Pickover, you might still enjoy this fascinating buffet. And those are 5 hard-earned stars in my rating! I was well past starting to think that the best parts of Pickover's books were the always-intriguing titles. I had started a number of these in the past, but usually ended up skimming or setting them aside. None that I have read would have earned more than 3 stars. Until now! "Wonders of Numbers" is, somehow, different. It still has some of his quirky lists ("The Unabomber's 10 Most Mathematical Technical Papers", "A Ranking of the 5 Strangest Mathematicians Who Ever Lived"). It still has the intriguing titles - each of 125 "chapters" carries one, ranging from "The Pipes of Papua" to "Anchovy Marriage Test". The pieces still seem to jump all over the place. Most of these things didn't grab me in past Pickover titles. Here, they all fit together and work nicely. Oddly enough, I think the appeal of this volume might be its eclecticism. Pickover is not trying to create a whole story as he has in some earlier books ("Time: A Traveler's Guide", "Surfing through Hyperspace"). The unifying center of this book is, simply, mathematics and the myriad ways it exposes its wonders to us. I'm guessing that the reason I haven't put this one down is my own fascination with mathematics itself. The broader the scope the better - and none takes a wider view than Clifford Pickover. The book has something for everyone - but it will also draw you in to other pieces you thought you weren't interested in. Martin Gardner meets Conway & Guy ! A nice combo.
Rating:
Summary: A gem for teachers
Review: Pickover's latest book is wonderful! I specialise in teaching very able mathematics students and have used Clifford A. Pickover's books and web site with great success. The students really respond to his sense of humour. Wonders of Numbers is exactly the sort of material which stimulates the bright kids (and their teachers!), and gets them thinking in depth long after the class has finished. It takes them beyond the idea of just "getting sums right" to the concept that mathematics is a glorious plaything. Many of the chapters include computer related themes (fractals, programming) so students can see that mathematics is an evolving subject, not something which was all discovered long ago. The constant inclusion of interesting people, the humour in the writing, the validity of the topics mathematically, the strange sidelines and the general sense of fun, ensures I have another gem to extend the students beyond the regular curriculum. The chapters are just the right size to initiate a topic and motivate the students to pursue it. It is lovely to have material to use which doesn't just lead to a correct answer and end to the problem, but leads them to take it further and further. Wonderful!
Rating:
Summary: A delightful collection of mathematical puzzles
Review: This book contains a delightful collection of mathematical puzzles in the tradition of Martin Gardner. There are Klingon Paths, Hexagonal Cats, Messages from the Stars, and Doughnut Loops. If you liked the puzzles in Pickover's "Alien IQ Test", you will like the puzzles in this book. The book is not all numbers. There are historical anecdotes and stories about mathematicians told by the author's alter-ego, Dr. Googol. Are all mathematicians insane? The answer not clear. However, the author describes the five strangest. Did you know that Pythagoras believed that it was sinful to eat beans? There are a number of interesting top ten lists. As one who thinks that the proper role of mathematics is to solve the problems of the physical world, I was happy to note that Dr. Googol chose equations of physics for six of the ten most important mathematical expressions, e.g. Gauss' law and Newton's law of gravitation. Dr. Googol must have some physicist friends. This is just the latest in a series of wonderful books that Dr. Pickover has written. I also recommend "The Science of Aliens" and "Time: A Traveler's Guide".
Rating:
Summary: a MUST for mathematics lovers
Review: well, don't just expect this book to be a 'problem-solving' guide. it's more than that! it consists of history behind mathematics, comics(sort of) that stimulate readers with all sorts of daily stuff, just beyond your imagination! with my strongest belief, every reader of this book will be stuck to it once they've placed their hands on the cover.
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