Famed puzzle expert explains math behind a multitude of mystifying tricks: card tricks, stage "mind reading," coin and match tricks, counting out games, geometric dissections, etc. Probability, sets, theory of numbers clearly explained. Also, more than 400 tricks, guaranteed to work, that you can do. 135 illustrations.This was arguably the first book aimed at the general public which combinedmathematics and magic, but it wasn't the first time he'd written about theconnection between the two. The book actually grew out of some related earlierwriting of Martin's forScripta Mathematica.In a Mar 2006 interview published online at MAA.org in"Martin Gardner's Magic Spells" (Oct 2006), Martin revealed, "When I wasliving in New York, I use to go to a gathering of mathematicians at YeshivaUniversity, and it was a gathering that was run by a fellow named JekuthielGinsburg who editedScripta Mathematica, a magazine devoted to history ofmathematics. He found out that I was interested in mathematical magic and askedme to do a series of articles, forScripta. So I did a series of pieces,one on card tricks and one on dice tricks and on miscellaneous objects and so on,and I put those together and that became a book."The result was a fine collection of the kind of magical entertainmment to be hadwith dice, dominoes, calendars, magic squares, watches, paper money, coins,matches, and checkerboards, much of it mathematical in nature, alongsidetopological tricks with afghan bands, handkerchiefs, string and rope, clothing,and rubber bands, and also geometrical vanishes, fibonacci numbers, and a varietyof arithmetic tricks.He was able to include some top-notch recent material, e.g., effects of Bob Hummer,thanks to his long-standing relationships with magicians in Chicago and New York.The book's title and spirit serve as inspiration for Math Awareness Month (Apr 2014).http://martin-gardner.org/MMM.html