Awesome Colossal Album and Music Offers

Finally collected in one volume, Martin Gardner's immensely popular short puzzles—along with a few new ones from the master.

For more than twenty-five years, Martin Gardner was Scientific American's renowned provocateur of popular math. His yearly gatherings of short and inventive problems were easily his most anticipated math columns. Loyal readers would savor the wit and elegance of his explorations in physics, probability, topology, and chess, among others. Grouped by subject and arrayed from easiest to hardest, the puzzles gathered here, which complement the lengthier, more involved problems in The Colossal Book of Mathematics, have been selected by Gardner for their illuminating—and often bewildering—solutions. Filled with over 300 illustrations, this new volume even contains nine new mathematical gems that Gardner, now ninety, has been gathering for the last decade. No amateur or expert math lover should be without this indispensable volume—a capstone to Gardner's seventy-year career. 308 illustrations..
Price: $20.00 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Each page presents a challenge to find various objects within an illustration .
Price: $6.54 [Notify me when price goes down.]

No amateur or math authority can be without this ultimate compendium from America's best-loved mathematical expert. Whether discussing hexaflexagons or number theory, Klein bottles or the essence of "nothing," Martin Gardner has single-handedly created the field of "recreational mathematics." The Colossal Book of Mathematics collects Gardner's most popular pieces from his legendary "Mathematical Games" column, which ran in Scientific American for twenty-five years. Gardner's array of absorbing puzzles and mind-twisting paradoxes opens mathematics up to the world at large, inspiring people to see past numbers and formulas and experience the application of mathematical principles to the mysterious world around them. With articles on topics ranging from simple algebra to the twisting surfaces of Mobius strips, from an endless game of Bulgarian solitaire to the unreachable dream of time travel, this volume is a substantial and definitive monument to Gardner's influence on mathematics, science, and culture.

In its twelve sections, The Colossal Book of Mathematics explores a wide range of areas, each startlingly illuminated by Gardner's incisive expertise. Beginning with seemingly simple topics, Gardner expertly guides us through complicated and wondrous worlds: by way of basic algebra we contemplate the mesmerizing, often hilarious, linguistic and numerical possibilities of palindromes; using simple geometry, he dissects the principles of symmetry upon which the renowned mathematical artist M.C. Escher constructs his unique, dizzying universe. Gardner, like few other thinkers today, melds a rigorous scientific skepticism with a profound artistic and imaginative impulse. His stunning exploration of "The Church of the Fourth Dimension," for example, bridges the disparate worlds of religion and science by brilliantly imagining the spatial possibility of God's presence in the world as a fourth dimension, at once "everywhere and nowhere."

With boundless wisdom and his trademark wit, Gardner allows the reader to further engage challenging topics like probability and game theory, which have plagued clever gamblers, as well as famous mathematicians, for centuries. Whether debunking Pascal's wager with basic probability, making visual music with fractals, or uncoiling a "knotted doughnut" with introductory topology, Gardner continuously displays his fierce intelligence and gentle humor. His articles confront both the comfortingly mundane--"Generalized Ticktacktoe" and "Sprouts and Brussels Sprouts"--and the quakingly abstract: "Hexaflexagons," "Nothing," and "Everything." He navigates these staggeringly obscure topics with a deft intelligence and, with addendums and suggested reading lists, he informs these classic articles with new insight.

Admired by scientists and mathematicians, writers and readers alike, Gardner possesses vast knowledge and a burning curiosity that reveal themselves on every page. The culmination of a lifelong devotion to the wonders of mathematics, The Colossal Book of Mathematics is the largest and most comprehensive math book ever assembled by Gardner, and it remains an indispensable volume for the amateur and expert alike..
Price: $21.30 [Notify me when price goes down.]

A fabulously entertaining book from the ultimate authority on those almost believable tales that always happen to a "friend of a friend." Alligators in the sewers? A pet in the microwave? A tragic misunderstanding of the function of cruise control? No, it didn't really happen to your friend's sister's neighbor: it's an urban legend. And no matter how savvy you think you are, you are sure to find in this collection of over 200 tales at least one story you would have sworn was true. Jan Harold Brunvand has been collecting and studying this modern folklore for over twenty years. In Too Good to Be True he captures the best stories in their best retellings, along with their latest variations and examples of how the stories have changed as they move from person to person and place to place. To help you find your favorite, Brunvand has arranged the tales thematically. "Bringing Up Baby" is full of episodes of child-rearing gone wrong, including the grisly tale of the drugged out baby-sitter who mistakes the kid for a turkey. "Funny Business" showcases stories of infamous lapses in customer service, such as the story of the shockingly expensive chocolate chip cookie recipe. And "The Criminal Mind" features both brilliant --if they were real --scams, as well as the purported antics of the less mentally gifted. Whether you want to become an expert debunker or just have plenty of laughs, this book will surprise and entertain you. Illustrated throughout. 70 b/w illustrations..
Price: $7.18 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Jumble fans everywhere will jump for joy at this new twist on the perennially popular jumble puzzles! Offering the same scrambled word fun as their classic cousins, these new puzzles will also test your knowledge of geography, history, science, and much, much more. Brain busters will keep your noggin hoppin' and your pencil moving with hours of challenging , enjoyable puzzles. Jumble fans won't be able to resist this fun new way to maintain your brainpower! .
Price: $12.95 [Notify me when price goes down.]

A playing card deck that's enormously entertaining! Whether you are a magician or just hosting a party, Colossal cards are a super-sized conversation piece. This unique deck also makes a memorable gift for playing card fans..
Price: $25.54 [Notify me when price goes down.]

What is the mystery of Mystery Science Theater 3000?

You may have asked yourself, "What the heck are these talking shadows doing in the corner of my TV screen, riffing away with plucky--and hilarious--abandon in the face of some really bad movies?" Or something similar.  The answer, my friend, is right in this here official, 100%-MST3K-sanctioned book.

Or maybe you know all about the adventures of Joel, Mike, and the 'bots in the not-too distant future.  Then you can skip those pages.  Really.  We won't tell.  You still need this book.  Because it's got more cool stuff from the writers and performers of MST3K.

More of what you'll find in the  Mystery Science Theater 3000 Amazing Colossal Episode Guide

*       More than 120 synopses of the more than 120 episodes of the Peabody Award-winning show

*       More fascinating, outrageous facts and tidbits about the making of each episode

*       More photos than your average issue of Tiger Beat

*       More of the most disgusting things ever seen on-screen by the MST3K writers

*       More than 49 (50, to be exact) of the most obscure wisecracks

*       More quizzes, worksheets, and a ten-step plan to help you gain control of your finances and your life (well, not really...)

*       More about your Area and what it can do for you

*       More Beverly Garland! Miles and Miles O'Keefe!

*       And much, much more!.
Price: $140.00 [Notify me when price goes down.]

The "P. T. Barnum Reader" reveals the trailblazing American showman P. T. Barnum as, by turns, a moral reformer, a habitual hoaxer, an insightful critic, a savvy 'puffer', a master of images, a sparkling writer, a relentless provocateur, and an early advocate of 'family' entertainments. Taken together, these selections paint a new and more complete portrait of this complex man than has ever been seen before. James W. Cook's "The Colossal P. T. Barnum Reader" is the largest collection of Barnum's works ever produced. Included are excerpts from his pseudo-autobiographical novel "The Adventures of an Adventurer" (1841), his European letters from 1844-46 informing readers of the "New York Atlas" of his regal reception overseas, and a large selection from his Ancient and Modern Humbugs of the World, Barnum's 1864-65 insider's look into the frauds of nineteenth-century American culture.It offers a glimpse of Tom Thumb's minstrel and singing performances in front of Queen Victoria, Barnum's many fraudulent representations of the supposedly ancient Joice Heth, and a more immediate, less filtered sense of Barnum as cultural and social critic in his serialized writings and travelogues. This volume also features reproductions of difficult to find posters from Barnum's two-decade collaboration with the prominent New York lithographers, Currier and Ives, and vintage photographs. Finally, the reader also helps us to understand Barnum's role in building the modern culture industry. We follow his career from itinerant hawker, hardly distinguishable from his pre-industrial forebears, to manager of the world's first show business empire, with a staff of thousands and brand recognition across four continents. "The Colossal P. T. Barnum Reader" tracks the shifting personas of the great showman, his representational choices, and his publics across the nineteenth century..
Price: $12.84 [Notify me when price goes down.]