Tarquin
Geometry Snacks
Geometry Snacks is a mathematical puzzle book filled with geometrical figures and questions designed to challenge, confuse and ultimately enlighten enthusiasts of all ages. Each puzzle is carefully designed to draw out interesting phenomena and relationships between the areas and dimensions of various shapes. Furthermore, unlike most puzzle books, the authors offer multiple approaches to solutions so that once a puzzle is solved, there are further surprises, insights and challenges to be had.
As a teaching tool, Geometry Snacks enables teachers to promote deep thinking and debate over how to solve geometry puzzles. Each figure is simple, but often deceptively tricky to solve – allowing for great classroom discussions about ways in which to approach them. By offering numerous solution approaches, the book also acts as a tool to help encourage creativity and develop a variety of strategies to chip away at problems that often seem to have no obvious way in.
Contents:
- What fraction is shaded?
- Find the missing angle
- What is the area?
- Prove it
- Sangaku
Complete with answers.
Reviews
"a deliciously tasty, pocket-sized puzzle book by Ed Southall and Vincent Pantaloni. The idea behind the book is to show that problems can be solved in several ways, which means that, say the authors: “once a puzzle is solved, there are further surprises, insights and challenges to be had.” Alex Bellos, Guardian
"Geometric reasoning is joyful and beautiful. Memorising the difference between complementary and supplementary angles… rather less so. Geometry Snacks doesn’t shy away from the vocabulary of geometry, but its focus is squarely on the key ideas.
It’s a gorgeous little book (16cm by 16cm, 80 pages), with a stylised doughnut on the front to represent the bite-sized problems inside. It’s in five sections, covering “find the fraction” puzzles, angle-finding, proofs, areas and sangaku, lovely 17th- to 19th-century Japanese puzzles largely involving circles.
What makes it special for me is the clarity and elegance of the diagrams. Careful use of grey and red shading generally makes it obvious what they’re asking for; a lot of thought has gone into making the pictures pop..." Colin Beveridge, The Aperiodical
