Hexaflexagons and Other Mathematical Diversions: The First Scientific American Book of Puzzles and Games

Paradoxes and paperfolding, Moebius variations and mnemonics, fallacies, magic squares, topological curiosities, parlor tricks, and games ancient and modern from Polyominoes, Nim, Hex, and the Tower of Hanoi to four-dimensional ticktacktoe. These mathematical creations, clearly and cleverly presented by Martin Gardner, delight and perplex while demonstrating principles of logic, probability, geometry, and other fields of mathematics.

This book was the very first collection of Gardner's enormously popular "Scientific American" columns, and its puzzles remain fresh and fascinating. Gardner has added a new afterword noting variations on games, mathematical proofs, and other developments and discoveries made since the book's first publication. An extensive, updated bibliography suggests further reading.