Recreational mathematics

Recreational mathematics is mathematics for the fun of it. It includes many mathematical games, and can be extended to cover such areas as logic and other puzzles of deductive[?] reasoning. Some of the most interesting problems in this field do not require a knowledge of advanced mathematics.

The subject can include other topics such as the aesthetics of mathematics, and peculiar or amusing stories and coincidences about mathematics and mathematicians. Its greatest contribution is its ability to pique curiosity and inspire the further study of mathematics.

The Journal of Recreational Mathematics[?] is the biggest publication on this topic.

The foremost advocates of recreational mathematics have included

• Martin Gardner, author of Mathematical Games, a long running column in Scientific American
• Douglas Hofstadter
• John Conway
• Henry Dudeney[?]

• Piet Hein
• Sam Loyd
• Walter William Rouse Ball[?]
• Raymond Smullyan
• H. S. M. Coxeter

References:

• Journal of Recreational Mathematics (http://www.ashbacher.com/jrecmath.stm)
• http://www.mathpuzzle.com/ by Ed Pegg, Jr.
• The Unreasonable Utility of Recreational Mathematics (http://anduin.eldar.org/%7Eproblemi/singmast/ecmutil) by David Singmaster
• Profile of John Conway (http://www.sciam.com/1999/0499issue/0499profile)

Bibliography [external link]:

• http://bruichladdich.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/mathrecsFolder/books