Populated by curious creatures whose stories unfold with jokes and puns, this mathematical wonderland of puzzles and games also imparts significant mathematical ideas. Ian Stewart, an active popularizer of mathematics, university professor, and former columnist for Scientific American's "e;Mathematical Games"e; section, has selected 16 of his columns from Pour la Science, the French edition of Scientific American, most based on a mathematical idea dressed up with oddball characters and wacky wordplay.
