Mage Merlin's Unsolved Mathematical Mysteries

by Satyan Linus Devadoss, Matthew Harvey

Sixteen of today's greatest unsolved mathematical puzzles in a story-driven, illustrated volume that invites readers to peek over the edge of the unknown. Most people think of mathematics as a set of useful tools designed to answer analytical questions, beginning with simple arithmetic and ending with advanced calculus. But, as Mage Merlin's Unsolved Mathematical Mysteries shows, mathematics is filled with intriguing mysteries that take us to the edge of the unknown. This richly illustrated, story-driven volume presents sixteen of today's greatest unsolved mathematical puzzles, all understandable by anyone with elementary math skills. These intriguing mysteries are presented to readers as puzzles that have time-traveled from Camelot, preserved in the notebook of Merlin, the wise magician in King Arthur's court. Our guide is Mage Maryam (named in honor of the brilliant young mathematician, the late Maryam Mirzakhani), a distant descendant of Merlin. Maryam introduces the mysteries—each of which is presented across two beautifully illustrated pages—and provides mathematical and historical context afterward. We find Merlin confronting mathematical puzzles involving tinker toys (a present for Camelot's princesses from the sorceress Morgana), cake-slicing at a festival, Lancelot's labyrinth, a vault for the Holy Grail, and more. Each mystery is a sword awaiting removal from its stone, capturing the beauty and power of mathematics.

Genres: Mathematics

120 pages, Hardcover

Published July 28, 2020

Reviews

[Grrlscientist · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've always loved mathematics, so I was pleasantly surprised when Satyan Devadoss and Matthew Harvey’s new book, Mage Merlin’s Unsolved Mathematical Mysteries (MIT Press, 2020), arrived in the mail recently. These mysteries consist of sixteen unsolved mathematical conundrums, each of which is “a sword in the stone waiting for someone to draw it out”, presenting a riddle “that no mathematical wizard has yet overcome”. Some of these mysteries are well-known, such as the Goldbach Conjecture, whilst others are relatively obscure, but certainly no less captivating to contemplate. The basic mathematical ideas have been elegantly reframed into captivating puzzles like Lancelot’s labyrinth, The Great Hall Window, and Round Table Tiles, and that involve solving simple physical puzzles like gift wrapping a package, perfectly slicing a cake at a festival, and designing a mirrored vault for the Holy Grail.

The authors present each puzzle in a fun way that is easily understood and tested by anyone with only basic mathematical knowledge. The lavish illustrations are colorful contributions that make it easy for the reader to understand at a glance the precise nature of the problem they are being asked to solve.

Even more appealing, these mysteries are presented to the reader by a fictional narrator, Mage Maryam, who weaves these puzzles into an enjoyable story that her distant ancestor, Merlin the Magician, recorded in a notebook. (Mage Maryam is inspired by real-life maths genius, Iranian-born Maryam Mirzakhani, the only woman to win the Fields Medal — nicknamed the “Nobel Prize of mathematics” — before her life was tragically cut short by cancer.)

This unique book will charm and delight mathematical explorers of all ages with its beautiful illustrations, captivating story, and unsolved mathematical challenges that range from geometry to number theory and more.


NOTE: Originally published at Forbes.com on 27 August 2020.

[Michael Trick · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun short book on some unsolved problems in mathematics. The problems come from the easily understood parts of math (no Reimann's hypothesis here!) and are succinctly described through stories based on the legend of King Arthur.

[James Rayman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite a short read. The mystical stories get in the way of the math problems, and I can't think of a reason to include them unless you are reading this book to a child, who I assume wouldn't care that much anyway. However, the collection of unsolved problems and partial results is good. It has some famous ones and some obscure ones, but all of them can be described within a page to someone who has only a basic math background.