scientific article; zbMATH DE number 1152904
Here is an interesting and amusing paperback monograph with formal problems together with related commentary for a modern, one-semester, undergraduate course on creative problem-solving activities. It complements neatly G. Polya's more comprehensive textbooks on (1) induction and analogy in mathematics and (2) patterns of plausible inference [\textit{G. Polya}, Mathematics and plausible reasoning. Vol. I: Induction and analogy in mathematics (1954; Zbl 0056.24101), Vol. II: Patterns of plausible inference (1954; Zbl 0056.24102)]. The overall program was initiated and designed by the late P. Erdős, László Lovász, Vera Sós, and László Babai about 15 years ago. Most of the results are accessible, but few are easy; indeed, deep results are presented without need for exotic techniques from modern algebraic geometry or algebraic topology. The presentation is in the Hungarian tradition! There is a broad array of topics discussed. E.g., proofs of irrationality, elementary theory of geometric constructions, regular polygons, elementary linear spaces and fields, basic algebraic and transcendental numbers, Liouville numbers, the Banach-Tarski paradox, and Borel sets. Proofs of algebraic and geometric impossibility are abundant in the monograph, but there is no hint at techniques for logical impossibility (recursive unsolvability). Several interesting exercises are given on Fermat numbers (pg. 23), but no challenging conjectures such as (1) \(F_8\), \(F_9\), \(F_{10}\), \(F_{11}\) are the only four consecutive Fermat numbers with a consecutive number of prime factors and (2) \(F_0\), \(F_1\), \(F_2\), \(F_3\), \(F_4\) are the only five consecutive Fermat numbers with the same number of prime factors. Helpful hints are given toward the solution of several of the exercises posed in the book. Overall, the monograph is highly recommended as a resource for undergraduate problem-solving courses.
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