Dr. Ecco's Cyberpuzzles: 36 Puzzles for Hackers and Other Mathematical Detectives

Rating:
Summary: Ecco strikes again
Review: As a fan of Ecco's Puzzling Adventures, I was eager to take a look at his cyberpuzzles. Ecco and his protege Shasha have done it again, and I recommend this book to anyone looking for interesting, challenging, thoughtful problems.

The book is a fun and intersting read on its own, but I have also drawn on the book's puzzles in teaching (a course on logic and discrete math).

It's very cool to have a book that can entertain and educate at the same time! Looking forward to Ecco's further adventures.

Rating:
Summary: Ecco strikes again
Review: As a fan of Ecco's Puzzling Adventures, I was eager to take a look at his cyberpuzzles. Ecco and his protege Shasha have done it again, and I recommend this book to anyone looking for interesting, challenging, thoughtful problems.

The book is a fun and intersting read on its own, but I have also drawn on the book's puzzles in teaching (a course on logic and discrete math).

It's very cool to have a book that can entertain and educate at the same time! Looking forward to Ecco's further adventures.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting puzzles, but who's Dr. Ecco?
Review: Presumably, this collection of mathematical puzzles is for fans of one Dr. Ecco whose life is full of adventures. For people not familiar with the character, the book appears very dull and the characters contrived, uninteresting, and, well, kind of lame. The narration is a little over the top, but all in all, the book is not terribly written.

The puzzles on the other hand are pretty interesting. Ranging from solving codes through organizing buildings in space to transporting monkeys, the puzzles are a nice way of teaching mathematical concepts. As the descriptions of the puzzles and Dr. Ecco's solutions thereof progress, the reader is asked to participate on different levels in solving of the puzzles. Cybernovices and cyberexperts can learn about math in a fun way.

I recommend this book for those interested in solving puzzles of any kind who are not detered by corny storylines. If you are not sure whether you'd like this book, I recommend you flip through it at a book store to make sure.