Puzzle Theory

Should you watch public television without pledging? Exceed the posted speed limit? Hop a subway turnstile without paying? These questions illustrate the "prisoner's dilemma", a social puzzle that we all face every day. Though the answers may seem simple, their profound implications make the prisoner's dilemma one of the great unifying concepts of science. Watching poker players bluff inspired John von Neumann to construct game theory, a mathematical study of conflict and deception.

Have you ever felt a glitch in reality? A moment of déjà vu so intense it convinced you you’d lived this second before? Or a coincidence so strange it felt like a message from the universe? These moments are loose threads on the sweater of reality. This book grabs those threads and pulls. Journey through twenty of the most profound and unsettling thought experiments ever conceived. These aren't just dusty philosophical questions; they are living problems that haunt the frontiers of modern science and technology, presented here in clear, accessible language. Inside, you will confront ...

The second half of the 20th century witnessed a scientific gold rush as physicists raced to chart the inner workings of the atom. The stakes were high, the questions were big, and there were Nobel Prizes and everlasting glory to be won. Many mysteries of the atom came unraveled, but one remained intractable-what Frank Close calls the "Infinity Puzzle."

20 Contradicting Paradoxes That Will Make You Question Reality A Scientific and Philosophical Exploration of Logic, Infinity, Identity, and Rationality Paradoxes are often presented as clever intellectual puzzles — brief moments of surprise designed to confuse or entertain. In reality, they are far more important. A true paradox exposes a structural tension inside a system of reasoning. It reveals where assumptions collide, where intuition exceeds its limits, and where clarity demands refinement. This book examines twenty of the most influential paradoxes in philosophy, mathematics, ...

In this new kind of introduction to ethical theory, Daniel Muñoz and Sarah Stroud present fifty of the field's most exciting puzzles, paradoxes, and thought experiments. Over the course of eleven chapters, the authors cover a huge variety of topics, starting with the classic debate between utilitarians and deontologists and ending on existential questions about the future of humanity.

An audio tour of the structures and patterns we call "math" This is an audiobook about math, but it contains no numbers. Math Without Numbers is a vivid, conversational, and wholly original guide to the three main branches of abstract math—topology, analysis, and algebra—which turn out to be...

Something Is Missing. Something Enormous. You are made of almost nothing. Not in a philosophical sense. In a literal, measurable, scientific one. Every atom in your body, every star you have ever seen, every planet, moon, and galaxy that astronomers have ever cataloged in the entire history of human observation. All of it, every single piece of matter in the known universe, amounts to less than five percent of what exists. The rest is dark. Silent. Invisible. Unknown. Stop for a moment and let that land. Ninety-five percent of the universe is missing, and no one knows what it is. This is ...

The thrilling conclusion to the romantic adventure series that TeenVogue.com calls, a "Da Vinci Code-style thriller for teens." Power balances on a knife's edge. Destiny is uncertain. And love is the most terrifying thing of all. The Circle of Twelve is not who Avery though they were. Neither...

“A Da Vinci Code–style thriller for teens? Yes please.”—TeenVogue.com Two weeks. That’s how long it took for Avery West’s ordinary life to change forever. In two weeks, she discovered she was heiress to a powerful secret society known as the Circle, learned her mother was taken...

Nobody's supposed to see the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee before her Silver, yet Ben and Georgie do exactly that. Who in their right mind would agree to move into a mansion with their narcissistic ex-boss after stealing his job? Ben, apparently. When he joins Isaac’s Dungeons and Dragons party, the adventures begin in the cellar, but get disturbingly real when the players find a space-age capsule in the attic filled with vintage clothes and artefacts. The gang's first foray into the hermetically-sealed space ends in a mad scramble to escape before the computer initiates evacuation protocols...

An intimate portrait of an everyday genius. Alexander Master’s landlord, Simon, lives in the basement of their Cambridge house. Between teetering towers of outdated maps and slagheaps of plastic bags, Simon eats endless meals of tinned kippers and plans trips on the Cambridge public transport...

The rolling pin points to murder, and Olivia Marx is the only one who sees it. In the quaint town of Whispering Falls, it's a fine line between cookie dough and crime scenes. Olivia Marx, puzzle enthusiast and reluctant detective, finds her cozy life flipped upside down. When the town's beloved baker, Ben, is found dead, Olivia dives into a web of confectionery conspiracies. Too bad Detective Ethan Blackwell insists she leave it to the pros. Crumbs of evidence present more questions than answers. Every resident seems suspicious, including Olivia herself, and secrets are as common as ...