"David Acheson captures the joy and wonder of mathematics in this little book, full of delightful and curious examples presented in a gentle, friendly way, yet packing in a number of profound ideas." -- Hannah Fry, broadcaster and lecturer, author of The Mathematics of Love and The Indisputable Existence of Santa Claus"A delight." -- Brian Clegg, Popular Science"[A] compendium of intriguing ideas which would fascinate and compel a keen mathematician wanting to learn more, and provide hours of intrigue and jumping-off points for further investigation." -- Katie Steckles, The Aperiodical"[A] neat little book.every teacher, or at least every department, should have a copy." -- Grant Macleod, Mathematics in Schools "This book is both interesting and entertaining, and it should appeal to any numerate person who has a casual interest in puzzles or mathematics." -- SF2 Concatenation"This short book encompasses an astonishing array of ideas and concepts, from number tricks and magic squares to infinite series and imaginary numbers." -- MathSciNet"Given the author's own specialisms (mainly fluid dynamics and astrophysics), it is good to see a substantial emphasis on the use of algebra in applied mathematics.

There are stimulating chapters on passing trains, crossed ladders, rollercoaster dynamics and tuning a guitar. The book ends with some paradoxes involving infinite series and the AM-GM inequality. I can recommend it thoroughly." -- Gerry Leversha, The Mathematical Gazette.