After Martin 'retired' to focus on writing more books, the column was carried on for two more decades by various others, whose columns are also indexed here.
This index was originally posted on the web with Martin's permission in 1999.
MG | Martin Gardner | Mathematical Games | 297 |
MGA | Martin Gardner | Scientific American articles | 4 |
DRH | Douglas R. Hofstadter | Metamagical Themas | 25 |
BH | Brian Hayes | Computer Recreations | 6 |
FG | Fred Gruenberger | Computer Recreations (Apr 1984) | 1 |
AKD | A. K. Dewdney | Mathematical Recreations or Computer Recreations | 78 |
IAN | Ian Stewart | Mathematical Recreations | 96 |
A gAmes B ProBaBility C Computer Topic, No... use for Dissection D Dominoes, Polynominoes, Pentominoes, Soma Cubes, Rep-Tiles, Polyiamonds F Fractal G Geometry H Hexaflexagons, etc I OrigamI L Logic, Philosophy, Paradox M Miscellaneous? N Number Theory O TopolOgy P Collections of Problems Q Magic sQuares R Randomness S Symmetry T Mathematics of the Transfinite (not sure what I intended with this one) X Dr Matrix (often containing several problems) Y Graphy TheorY Z PuZZles and Tiling (Sliding Block puzzles, etc) ? Need more categories. eg Cellular Automata, (2D,3D,4D), ... Help! Suggestions? Unused codes: EJKUVW 0-9
MON | YR | Title | Auth | n | Notes, Keywords | Cat | vol n |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mar | 52 | Logic Machines | MGA | 1 | Sci Am Article, pre-dates column | C | v186 n3 |
Dec | 56 | Flexagons | MGA | 2 | The 0thcolumn, See on MAA.org |
H | v195 n6 |
Jan | 57 | A new kind of magic square with remarkable properties | MG | 1 | ? | Q | v196 n1 |
Feb | 57 | An assortment of maddening puzzles. Warning: The solutions will not be given until March | MG | 2 | ? | P | v196 n2 |
Mar | 57 | Some old and new versions of tick-tack-toe, plus the answers to last month's puzzles | MG | 3 | ? | A | v196 n3 |
Apr | 57 | Paradoxes dealing with birthdays, playing cards, coins, crows and red-haired typists | MG | 4 | ? | L | v196 n4 |
May | 57 | About the remarkable similarity between the Icosian Game and the Tower of Hanoi | MG | 5 | ? | ? | v196 n5 |
Jun | 57 | Curious figures descended from the möbius band, which has only one side and one edge | MG | 6 | ? | O | v196 n6 |
Jul | 57 | Concerning the game of Hex, which can be played on the tiles of the bathroom floor | MG | 7 | ? | A | v197 n1 |
Aug | 57 | The life and work of Sam Loyd, a mighty inventor of puzzles | MG | 8 | ? | Z | v197 n2 |
Sep | 57 | Concerning various tricks with a mathematical message | MG | 9 | ? | ? | v197 n3 |
Oct | 57 | How to remember numbers by mnemonic devices such as cufflinks and red zebras | MG | 10 | ? | ? | v197 n4 |
Nov | 57 | Nine titillating puzzles, the answers to which will be given next month | MG | 11 | ? | P | v197 n5 |
Dec | 57 | More about complex dominoes, plus the answers to last month's puzzles | MG | 12 | Pentominoes, hexominoes.. | D | v197 n6 |
Jan | 58 | A collection of tantalizing fallacies of mathematics | MG | 13 | ? | ? | v198 n1 |
Feb | 58 | The game of Nim and its mathematical analysis | MG | 14 | Tac Tix | A | v198 n2 |
Mar | 58 | About left- and right-handedness, mirror images and kindred matters | MG | 15 | ? | S | v198 n3 |
Apr | 58 | The celebrated puzzle of five sailors, a monkey, and a pile of coconuts | MG | 16 | ? | ? | v198 n4 |
May | 58 | About tetraflexagons and tetraflexagation | MG | 17 | ? | H | v198 n5 |
Jun | 58 | About Henry Ernest Dudney, a brilliant creator of puzzles | MG | 18 | ? | Z | v198 n6 |
Jul | 58 | Some diverting tricks which involve the concept of numerical congruence | MG | 19 | ? | N | v199 n1 |
Aug | 58 | A third collection of brain-teasers |
MG | 20 | ? | P | v199 n2 |
Sep | 58 | A game in which standard pieces composed of cubes are assembled into larger forms | MG | 21 | Soma | H | v199 n3 |
Oct | 58 | Four mathematical diversions involving concepts of topology | MG | 22 | ? | O | v199 n4 |
Nov | 58 | How rectangles, including squares, can be divided into squares of unequal size | MG | 23 | See covers | C | v199 n5 |
Dec | 58 | Diversions which involve the five Platonic solids | MG | 24 | ? | ? | v199 n6 |
Jan | 59 | About mazes and how they may be traversed | MG | 25 | ? | ? | v200 n1 |
Feb | 59 | Brainteasers that involve formal logic | MG | 26 | ? | L | v200 n2 |
Mar | 59 | Concerning the properties of various magic squares | MG | 27 | ? | Q | v200 n3 |
Apr | 59 | The mathematical diversions of a fictitious carnival man | MG | 28 | ? | ? | v200 n4 |
May | 59 | Another collection of brain-teasers |
MG | 29 | ? | P | v200 n5 |
Jun | 59 | An inductive card game, and the answers to the brain-teasersin the May issue |
MG | 30 | Eleusis | L | v200 n6 |
Jul | 59 | About Origami, the Japanese art of folding objects out of paper | MG | 31 | ? | I | v201 n1 |
Aug | 59 | About phi, an irrational number that had some remarkable geometrical expressions | MG | 32 | ? | G | v201 n2 |
Sep | 59 | Concerning mechanical puzzles, and how an enthusiast has collected 2,000 of them | MG | 33 | Grimes | Z | v201 n3 |
Oct | 59 | Problems involving questions of probability and ambiguity | MG | 34 | ? | ? | v201 n4 |
Nov | 59 | How three modern mathematicians disproved a celebrated conjecture of Leonhard Euler | MG | 35 | See covers | ? | v201 n5 |
Dec | 59 | Diversions that clarify group theory, particularly by the weaving of braids | MG | 36 | ? | ? | v201 n6 |
Jan | 60 | A fanciful dialog about wonders of Numerology | MG | 37 | ? | X | v202 n1 |
Feb | 60 | A fifth collection of brain-teasers |
MG | 38 | See on MAA.org | P | v202 n2 |
Mar | 60 | The games and puzzles of Lewis Carroll | MG | 39 | ? | AZ | v202 n3 |
Apr | 60 | About Mathematical games that are played on boards | MG | 40 | ? | A | v202 n4 |
May | 60 | Reflections on the packing of spheres | MG | 41 | ? | G | v202 n5 |
Jun | 60 | Recreations involving folding and cutting paper | MG | 42 | ? | O | v202 n6 |
Jul | 60 | Incidental information about the extraordinary number Pi | MG | 43 | ? | ? | v203 n1 |
Aug | 60 | An imaginary dialog on mathemagic: tricks based on mathematical principles |
MG | 44 | ? | ? | v203 n2 |
Sep | 60 | The celebrated four-color map problem of topology | MG | 45 | ? | O | v203 n3 |
Oct | 60 | A new collection of brain-teasers |
MG | 46 | ? | ? | v203 n4 |
Nov | 60 | More about the shapes that can be made with complex dominoes (poly and pentominoes) | MG | 47 | ? | D | v203 n5 |
Dec | 60 | Some recreations involving the binary number system | MG | 48 | ? | ? | v203 n6 |
Jan | 61 | Dr Matrix, numerologist extraordinary | MG | 49 | ? | X | v204 n1 |
Feb | 61 | Diversions that involve one of the classic conic sections: the ellipse | MG | 50 | ? | G | v204 n2 |
Mar | 61 | How to play dominoes in two and three dimensions | MG | 51 | ? | D | v204 n3 |
Apr | 61 | Concerning the diversions in a new book on geometry (Coxeter: Intro to Geometry) | MG | 52 | See covers | G | v204 n4 |
May | 61 | MG meets the legendary Bertrand Apollinax | MG | 53 | ? | ? | v204 n5 |
Jun | 61 | A new collection of brain-teasers |
MG | 54 | ? | P | v204 n6 |
Jul | 61 | Some diverting mathematical board games | MG | 55 | ? | A | v205 n1 |
Aug | 61 | Some entertainments that involve the calculus of finite differences | MG | 56 | ? | ? | v205 n2 |
Sep | 61 | Surfaces with edges linked in the same way as a well-known design (Borromean rings) | MG | 57 | Borromean | O | v205 n3 |
Oct | 61 | Diversions that involve the mathematical constant e |
MG | 58 | ? | ? | v205 n4 |
Nov | 61 | Where in geometrical figures are dissected to make other figures | MG | 59 | ? | C | v205 n5 |
Dec | 61 | On the theory of probability and the practice of gambling | MG | 60 | ? | B | v205 n6 |
Jan | 62 | An adventure in hyperspace at the church of the Fourth Dimension | MG | 61 | ? | ? | v206 n1 |
Feb | 62 | A clutch of diverting problems, and the answers to those of last month | MG | 62 | ? | P | v206 n2 |
Mar | 62 | How to build a game-learning machine and teach it to play and win | MG | 63 | ? | A | v206 n3 |
Apr | 62 | About three types of spirals and how to construct them | MG | 64 | ? | G | v206 n4 |
May | 62 | Symmetry and asymmetry and the strange world of upside down art | MG | 65 | ? | S | v206 n5 |
Jun | 62 | The (board) game of solitaire and some variations and transformations | MG | 66 | ? | A | v206 n6 |
Jul | 62 | Fiction about life in two dimensions (Flatland) | MG | 67 | ? | ? | v207 n1 |
Aug | 62 | A variety of diverting tricks collected at a fictitious convention of magicians | MG | 68 | ? | ? | v207 n2 |
Sep | 62 | Tests that show whether a large number can be divided by a number from 2 to 12 | MG | 69 | ? | N | v207 n3 |
Oct | 62 | A collection of puzzles involving numbers, logic, and probability | MG | 70 | ? | P | v207 n4 |
Nov | 62 | Some puzzles based on checker boards | MG | 71 | ? | Z | v207 n5 |
Dec | 62 | Some tricks and manipulations from the ancient lore of string play | MG | 72 | ? | ? | v207 n6 |
Jan | 63 | The author pays his annual visit to Dr. Matrix, the numerologist | MG | 73 | ? | X | v208 n1 |
Feb | 63 | Curves of constant width, one of which makes it possible to drill square holes | MG | 74 | ? | G | v208 n2 |
Mar | 63 | A new paradox, and variations on it, about a man condemned to be hanged | MG | 75 | ? | L | v208 n3 |
Apr | 63 | A bit of foolishness for April Fools' Day | MG | 76 | ? | ? | v208 n4 |
May | 63 | On rep-tilespolygons that can make larger and smaller copies of themselves |
MG | 77 | ? | D | v208 n5 |
Jun | 63 | A discussion of helical structures from corkscrews to DNA molecules | MG | 78 | ? | S | v208 n6 |
Jul | 63 | Topological diversions, including a bottle with no inside or outside | MG | 79 | ? | O | v209 n1 |
Aug | 63 | Permutations and paradoxes in combinatorial math | MG | 80 | ? | ? | v209 n2 |
Sep | 63 | How to solve puzzles by graphing the rebounds of a bouncing ball | MG | 81 | ? | ? | v209 n3 |
Oct | 63 | About two new and two old board games | MG | 82 | ? | A | v209 n4 |
Nov | 63 | A mixed bag of problems, and answers to last month's board-game questions | MG | 83 | ? | P | v209 n5 |
Dec | 63 | How to use the odd-even check for tricks and problem solving | MG | 84 | ? | ? | v209 n6 |
Jan | 64 | Dr Matrix (numerologist) in his annual performance | MG | 85 | ? | X | v210 n1 |
Feb | 64 | The hypnotic fascination of sliding block puzzles | MG | 86 | Sam Lyod | Z | v210 n2 |
Mar | 64 | The remarkable lore of prime numbers | MG | 87 | See covers | N | v210 n3 |
Apr | 64 | Various problems based on planar graphs, or sets of verticesconnected by edges |
MG | 88 | ? | Y | v210 n4 |
May | 64 | The tyranny of 10over thrown with the ternary number system |
MG | 89 | ? | N | v210 n5 |
Jun | 64 | Short problems and more on prime numbers | MG | 90 | ? | P | v210 n6 |
Jul | 64 | Curious properties of a cycloid curve | MG | 91 | ? | G | v211 n1 |
Aug | 64 | Magic tricks based on mathematical principles | MG | 92 | ? | P | v211 n2 |
Sep | 64 | Puns, palindromes and other word games with math spirit | MG | 93 | ? | P | v211 n3 |
Oct | 64 | Simple proofs of the Pythagorean theorem, and sundry other matters | MG | 94 | ? | G | v211 n4 |
Nov | 64 | Some paradoxes and puzzles involving infinite series and the concept of limit | MG | 95 | ? | G | v211 n5 |
Dec | 64 | On polyiamonds: shapes that are made out of equilateral triangles | MG | 96 | ? | D | v211 n6 |
Jan | 65 | Dr Matrix on symmetries and reversals | MG | 97 | ? | X | v212 n1 |
Feb | 65 | Tetrahedrons in nature and architecture, and puzzles involving this simplest polyhedron | MG | 98 | ? | G | v212 n2 |
Mar | 65 | A new group of short problems and answers to last month's questions | MG | 99 | ? | P | v212 n3 |
Apr | 65 | The infinite regress in philosophy, literature and mathematical proof | MG | 100 | ? | L | v212 n4 |
May | 65 | The lattice of integers considered as an orchard or a billiard table | MG | 101 | ? | T | v212 n5 |
Jun | 65 | Diversions from Mr O'Gara/ the postman | MG | 102 | ? | M | v212 n6 |
Jul | 65 | On the relation between mathematics and the ordered patterns of Op art | MG | 103 | See covers, Four bug problem | P | v213 n1 |
Aug | 65 | Communication with intelligent organisms on other worlds | MG | 104 | ? | L | v213 n2 |
Sep | 65 | The superellipse: a curve that lies between the ellipse and the rectangle | MG | 105 | Piet Hein | G | v213 n3 |
Oct | 65 | Pentolninoes and polyominoes: five games and a sampling of problems | MG | 106 | ? | D | v213 n4 |
Nov | 65 | A selection of elementary word and number problems | MG | 107 | ? | P | v213 n5 |
Dec | 65 | Magic stars, graphs and polyhedrons, and answers to last month's problems | MG | 108 | ? | Y | v213 n6 |
Jan | 66 | Dr Matrix, neo-Freudian psychonumerologist | MG | 109 | ? | X | v214 n1 |
Feb | 66 | Recreational numismatics or a purse of coin purses | MG | 110 | ? | P | v214 n2 |
Mar | 66 | The hierarchy of infinities and the problems it spawns | MG | 111 | ? | L | v214 n3 |
Apr | 66 | The eerie mathematical art of Escher | MG | 112 | ? | P | v214 n4 |
May | 66 | How to cooka puzzle, or mathematical one-uppery |
MG | 113 | ? | P | v214 n5 |
Jun | 66 | The persistence (and futility) of efforts to trisect the angle | MG | 114 | ? | T | v214 n6 |
Jul | 66 | Freud's friend Wilhelm Fliess and his theory of male and female life cycles | MG | 115 | ? | M | v215 n1 |
Aug | 66 | Puzzles that can be solved by reasoning based on elementary physical principles | MG | 116 | ? | L | v215 n2 |
Sep | 66 | The problem of Mrs. Perkins' quilt, and answers to last month's puzzles | MG | 117 | ? | M | v215 n3 |
Oct | 66 | Can the shuffling of cards (and other apparently random events) be reversed | MG | 118 | ? | R | v215 n4 |
Nov | 66 | Is it possible to visualize a four dimensional figure? | MG | 119 | ? | T | v215 n5 |
Dec | 66 | The multiple charms of Pascal's triangle | MG | 120 | ? | T | v215 n6 |
Jan | 67 | Can time go backwards? | MGA | 3 | Scientific American article | S | v216 n1 |
Jan | 67 | Dr Matrix delivers a talk on acrostics | MG | 121 | ? | X | v216 n1 |
Feb | 67 | Mathematical strategies for two person contests | MG | 122 | ? | A | v216 n2 |
Mar | 67 | An array of problems that can be solved with elementary mathematical techniques | MG | 123 | +dragon curve? | P | v216 n3 |
Apr | 67 | Amazing feats of professional mental calculators and some tricks of the trade | MG | 124 | ? | P | v216 n4 |
May | 67 | Cube-root extraction and the calendar trick, or how to cheat in mathematics | MG | 125 | ? | M | v216 n5 |
Jun | 67 | The polyhex and the polyabolo/polygonal jigsaw puzzle pieces | MG | 126 | ? | Z | v216 n6 |
Jul | 67 | Of sprouts and brussel sprouts, games with a topological flavor | MG | 127 | ? | O | v217 n1 |
Aug | 67 | In which a computer prints out mammoth polygonal factorials | MG | 128 | ? | M | v217 n2 |
Sep | 67 | Double acrostics, stylized victorian ancestors or today's crossword puzzle | MG | 129 | ? | Z | v217 n3 |
Oct | 67 | Problems that are built on the knight's tour in chess | MG | 130 | ? | P | v217 n4 |
Nov | 67 | A mixed bag of logical and illogical problems (including Langford's Problem!) | MG | 131 | ? | P | v217 n5 |
Dec | 67 | Game theory is applied (for a change) to games | MG | 132 | ? | A | v217 n6 |
Jan | 68 | The beauties of the square, as explained by Dr Matrix to rehabilitate the hippie | MG | 133 | ? | X | v218 n1 |
Feb | 68 | Combinatorial problems involving treegraphs and forests of trees |
MG | 134 | ? | Y | v218 n2 |
Mar | 68 | Perfect numbers, amicable pairs, Mersenne primes | MG | 135 | ? | T | v218 n3 |
Apr | 68 | Puzzles and tricks with a one dollar bill | MG | 136 | ? | Z | v218 n4 |
May | 68 | Circles and spheres, and how they kiss and pack | MG | 137 | ? | O | v218 n5 |
Jun | 68 | Combinatorial possibilities on a pack of shuffled cards | MG | 138 | ? | R | v218 n6 |
Jul | 68 | On the meaning of randomness and some ways of achieving it | MG | 139 | ? | R | v219 n1 |
Aug | 68 | Array of puzzles and tricks, with a few traps for the unwary | MG | 140 | ? | P | v219 n2 |
Sep | 68 | Counting systems and the relationship between numbers and the real world | MG | 141 | ? | T | v219 n3 |
Oct | 68 | MacMahon's color triangles and the joys of fitting them together | MG | 142 | ? | Z | v219 n4 |
Nov | 68 | On the ancient lore of die and the odds against making a point | MG | 143 | ? | R | v219 n5 |
Dec | 68 | The world of the möbius strip: endless, edgeless and one-sided | MG | 144 | ? | O | v219 n6 |
Jan | 69 | Dr Matrix gives his explanation of why Nixon was elected President | MG | 145 | ? | X | v220 n1 |
Feb | 69 | Boolean algebra, Venn diagrams and the propositional calculus | MG | 146 | ? | L | v220 n2 |
Mar | 69 | The multiple fascinations of the Fibonacci sequence | MG | 147 | ? | T | v220 n3 |
Apr | 69 | Octet of problems emphasizing gamesmanship, logic, and probability | MG | 148 | ? | P | v220 n4 |
May | 69 | Random walk and its gambling equivalent | MG | 149 | ? | R | v220 n5 |
Jun | 69 | Random walks by semidrunk bugs and others on the square and on the cube | MG | 150 | ? | R | v220 n6 |
Jul | 69 | Tricks, games, and puzzles that employ matches as counters and line segments | MG | 151 | ? | Z | v221 n1 |
Aug | 69 | Simplicity as scientific concept — Does nature keep her accounts on a thumbnail? | MG | 152 | ? | L | v221 n2 |
Sep | 69 | Geometric construction with a compass and a straight edge | MG | 153 | ? | G | v221 n3 |
Oct | 69 | Numeranalysis by Dr Matrix of the lunar flight of Apollo 11 | MG | 154 | ? | X | v221 n4 |
Nov | 69 | A new pencil-and-paper game based on inductive reasoning | MG | 155 | See covers. Patterns | A | v221 n5 |
Dec | 69 | A hand full of combinatorial problems bases on dominoes | MG | 156 | ? | Z | v221 n6 |
Jan | 70 | The abacus: primitive but effective digital computer | MG | 157 | ? | C | v222 n1 |
Feb | 70 | Nine new puzzles to solve, some answers and addenda | MG | 158 | ? | P | v222 n2 |
Mar | 70 | Cyclic numbers and their properties and answers to last month's problems | MG | 159 | ? | T | v222 n3 |
Apr | 70 | Mathematical curiosities embedded in the solar system | MG | 160 | ? | M | v222 n4 |
May | 70 | Of optical illusions, from figures that are undecidable to hot dogs that float | MG | 161 | ? | L | v222 n5 |
Jun | 70 | Elegant triangle theorems not to be found in Euclid | MG | 162 | ? | G | v222 n6 |
Jul | 70 | Diophantine analysis and the problem of Fermat's legendary last theorem |
MG | 163 | ? | T | v223 n1 |
Aug | 70 | Backward run numbers, letters, words and sentences until boggles the mind | MG | 164 | ? | P | v223 n2 |
Sep | 70 | On cyclical curves generated by wheels that roll along wheels | MG | 165 | ? | G | v223 n3 |
Oct | 70 | The fantastic combinations of John Conway's new solitaire game Life |
MG | 166 | Conway, See on MAA.org | A | v223 n4 |
Nov | 70 | A new collection of short problems and the answers to some of Life's |
MG | 167 | ? | P | v223 n5 |
Dec | 70 | Paradox of non-transitive dice and the elusive principle of indifference | MG | 168 | ? | L | v223 n6 |
Jan | 71 | Lessons from Dr Matrix in chess and numerology | MG | 169 | Martin starts reporting on Life | X | v224 n1 |
Feb | 71 | On cellular automata, self-reproduction, the Garden of Eden and the game of life |
MG | 170 | See covers | C | v224 n2 |
Mar | 71 | Orders of infinity, topological nature of dimension and supertask |
MG | 171 | ? | L | v224 n3 |
Apr | 71 | Geometric fallacies: hidden errors pave the road to absurd conclusions | MG | 172 | ? | G | v224 n4 |
May | 71 | Combinatorial richness of folding a piece of paper | MG | 173 | ? | O | v224 n5 |
Jun | 71 | The Turning game and the question it presents: Can a computer think? | MG | 174 | ? | C | v224 n6 |
Jul | 71 | Quickie problems: not hard, but look out for the curves | MG | 175 | ? | P | v225 n1 |
Aug | 71 | Tick-tack-toe and its complications, and answers to the quickie problems | MG | 176 | ? | P | v225 n2 |
Sep | 71 | The plaiting of Plato's polyhedrons and the asymmetrical yin-yang-lee | MG | 177 | ? | M | v225 n3 |
Oct | 71 | New puzzles from the game of Halma, the noble ancestor of Chinese Checkers | MG | 178 | ? | A | v225 n4 |
Nov | 71 | Advertising premiums to beguile mind; classics by Sam Loyd, master puzzle poser | MG | 179 | ? | Z | v225 n5 |
Dec | 71 | Further encounters with touching cubes, and the paradoxes of Zeno as supertasks |
MG | 180 | ? | O | v225 n6 |
Jan | 72 | How to triumph at nim by playing safe, and Conway's game hackenbush |
MG | 181 | ? | A | v226 n1 |
Feb | 72 | Dr Matrix poses heteroliteral puzzles while peddling perpetual motion | MG | 182 | ? | X | v226 n2 |
Mar | 72 | Graceful graphs of Solomon Golomb, or how to number a graph parsimoniously | MG | 183 | ? | Y | v226 n3 |
Apr | 72 | Topological problem with fresh twist, and eight other new recreational puzzles | MG | 184 | ? | O | v226 n4 |
May | 72 | Challenging chess tasks for puzzle buffs and answers to recreational problems | MG | 185 | ? | P | v226 n5 |
Jun | 72 | A miscellany of transcendental problems: Simple to state but not all easy to solve | MG | 186 | ? | T | v226 n6 |
Jul | 72 | Amazing mathematical card tricks that do not require prestidigitation | MG | 187 | ? | P | v227 n1 |
Aug | 72 | The curious properties of the gray code and how it can be used to solve puzzles | MG | 188 | ? | C | v227 n2 |
Sep | 72 | Pleasurable problems with polycubes and winning strategy for slither | MG | 189 | ? | P | v227 n3 |
Oct | 72 | Why the long arm of coincidence is usually not as long as it seems | MG | 190 | Kruskal | R | v227 n4 |
Nov | 72 | On the practical uses and bizarre abuses of Sir Francis Bacon's bilateral cipher | MG | 191 | ? | C | v227 n5 |
Dec | 72 | Knotty problems with a two-hole torus, and solutions for last month's ciphers | MG | 192 | ? | O | v227 n6 |
Jan | 73 | Sim, Chomp and Race Track: new games for the intellect (and not for Lady Luck) | MG | 193 | ? | A | v228 n1 |
Feb | 73 | Up-and-down elevator games and Piet Hein's mechanical puzzles | MG | 194 | ? | A | v228 n2 |
Mar | 73 | The calculating rods of John Napier, the eccentric father of logarithms | MG | 195 | ? | C | v228 n3 |
Apr | 73 | How to turn a chessboard into a computer to calculate with negabinary numbers | MG | 196 | ? | C | v228 n4 |
May | 73 | A new miscellany of problems, and encores for Race Track, SIM, Chomp and Elevators | MG | 197 | ? | P | v228 n5 |
Jun | 73 | Plotting the crossing number of graphs, and answers to last month's miscellany | MG | 198 | ? | Y | v228 n6 |
Jul | 73 | Free will revisited, with a mind bending prediction paradox by William Newcomb | MG | 199 | ? | L | v229 n1 |
Aug | 73 | An astounding self-test of clairvoyance by Dr Matrix | MG | 200 | ? | X | v229 n2 |
Sep | 73 | Problems on the surface of a sphere offer an entertaining intro to point sets | MG | 201 | ? | O | v229 n3 |
Oct | 73 | Look-seediagrams that offer visual proof of complex algebraic formulas |
MG | 202 | ? | M | v229 n4 |
Nov | 73 | Fantastic patterns traced by programmed worms |
MG | 203 | ? | C | v229 n5 |
Dec | 73 | On expressing integers as sum of cubes and other unsolved number theory problems | MG | 204 | ? | T | v229 n6 |
Jan | 74 | The combinatorial basis of the I Ching, the Chinese book of divination and wisdom |
MG | 205 | See covers | M | v230 n1 |
Feb | 74 | Cram, cross cram and quadraphage: new games having elusive winning strategies | MG | 206 | ? | A | v230 n2 |
Mar | 74 | Reflections on Newcomb's problem: a prediction and free-will dilemma | MG | 207 | ? | L | v230 n3 |
Apr | 74 | Nine challenging problems, some rational and some not | MG | 208 | ? | P | v230 n4 |
May | 74 | On the contradictions of time travel, and answers to last month's problems | MG | 209 | ? | L | v230 n5 |
Jun | 74 | Dr Matrix brings his numerological science to bear on the occult powers of the pyramid | MG | 210 | ? | X | v230 n6 |
Jul | 74 | On the patterns and unusual properties of figurate numbers | MG | 211 | ? | T | v231 n1 |
Aug | 74 | On the fanciful history and the creative challenges of the puzzle game of tangrams | MG | 212 | ? | Z | v231 n2 |
Sep | 74 | Tangrams: combinatorial problems and the game possibility of snug tangrams | MG | 213 | ? | Z | v231 n3 |
Oct | 74 | Paradoxical situations that arise from non-transitive relationships | MG | 214 | ? | L | v231 n4 |
Nov | 74 | Dramatic demonstrations of number theorems with playing cards | MG | 215 | ? | P | v231 n5 |
Dec | 74 | The arts as combinatorial mathematics, or how to compose like Mozart with dice | MG | 216 | ? | R | v231 n6 |
Jan | 75 | The curious magic of anamorphic art | MG | 217 | See covers | P | v232 n1 |
Feb | 75 | How the absence of anything leads to thoughts of nothing | MG | 218 | ? | L | v232 n2 |
Mar | 75 | From rubber ropes to rolling cubes, a miscellany of refreshing problems | MG | 219 | ? | P | v232 n3 |
Apr | 75 | Six sensational discoveries that somehow or another have escaped public attention | MG | 220 | ? | M | v232 n4 |
May | 75 | On the remarkable Császár polyhedron and its applications in problem solving | MG | 221 | Room square, Hadamard matrices | Y | v232 n5 |
Jun | 75 | Games of strategy for two players: star nim, meander, dodgem and rex | MG | 222 | ? | A | v232 n6 |
Jul | 75 | On tessellating the plane with convex polygon tiles | MG | 223 | ? | Z | v233 n1 |
Aug | 75 | Polyominoes, polyiamonds and polyhexes more about tiling the plane | MG | 224 | ? | Z | v233 n2 |
Sep | 75 | Dr Matrix finds numerological wonders in the King James Bible | MG | 225 | ? | X | v233 n3 |
Oct | 75 | Concerning an effort to demonstrate extrasensory perception by machine | MG | 226 | ? | M | v233 n4 |
Nov | 75 | On map projections (with special reference to some inspired ones) | MG | 227 | See covers | O | v233 n5 |
Dec | 75 | A random assortment of puzzles, together with reader responses to earlier problems | MG | 228 | ? | P | v233 n6 |
Jan | 76 | A breakthrough in magic squares and the first perfect magic cube | MG | 229 | ? | P | v234 n1 |
Feb | 76 | Some elegant brick-packing problems, and a new order-7 perfect magic cube | MG | 230 | ? | P | v234 n2 |
Mar | 76 | On the fabric of inductive logic, and some probability paradoxes | MG | 231 | ? | L | v234 n3 |
Apr | 76 | Snarks, boojums and other conjectures related to the four-color-map theorem | MG | 232 | ? | Y | v234 n4 |
May | 76 | A few words about everything there was, is and ever will be | MG | 233 | ? | L | v234 n5 |
Jun | 76 | Catalan numbers: an integer sequence that materializes in unexpected places | MG | 234 | ? | T | v234 n6 |
Jul | 76 | Fun and serious business with the small electronic calculator | MG | 235 | ? | C | v235 n1 |
Aug | 76 | Symmetrical arrangement of the stars on the American flag and related matters | MG | 236 | ? | M | v235 n2 |
Sep | 76 | John Horton Conway's book covers an infinity of games | MG | 237 | ? | A | v235 n3 |
Oct | 76 | Combinatorial problems, some old, some new and all newly attacked by computer | MG | 238 | ? | C | v235 n4 |
Nov | 76 | In which DM (Dr. Matrix) is revealed as the guru of PM (Pentagonal Meditation) | MG | 239 | ? | X | v235 n5 |
Dec | 76 | In which monstercurves force redefinition of the word curve |
MG | 240 | Mandelbrot, Fractal, See on MAA.org | F | v235 n6 |
Jan | 77 | Extraordinary nonperiodic tiling that enriches the theory of tiles | MG | 241 | See covers, See on MAA.org | Z | v236 n1 |
Feb | 77 | The flip strip sonnet, the lipogram and other mad modes of wordplay | MG | 242 | ? | P | v236 n2 |
Mar | 77 | Cornering a queen leads unexpectedly into corners of the theory of numbers | MG | 243 | ? | T | v236 n3 |
Apr | 77 | The pool table triangle, a limerick paradox and divers other challenges | MG | 244 | ? | P | v236 n4 |
May | 77 | The jump proofand its similarity to the toppling of a row of dominoes |
MG | 245 | inductive logic | M | v236 n5 |
Jun | 77 | The concept of negative numbers and the difficulty of grasping it | MG | 246 | ? | T | v236 n6 |
Jul | 77 | Cutting things into equal parts leads into significant areas of mathematics | MG | 247 | ? | T | v237 n1 |
Aug | 77 | A new kind of cipher that would take millions of years to break | MG | 248 | See on MAA.org | C | v237 n2 |
Sep | 77 | On conic sections ruled surfaces and other manifestations of the hyperbola | MG | 249 | ? | G | v237 n3 |
Oct | 77 | On playing new eleusis, the game that simulates the search for truth | MG | 250 | ? | A | v237 n4 |
Nov | 77 | In which joining sets of points by lines leads into diverse (and diverting) paths | MG | 251 | ? | Y | v237 n5 |
Dec | 77 | Dr Matrix goes to California to apply punk to rock study | MG | 252 | ? | X | v237 n6 |
Jan | 78 | The sculpture of Miquel Berrocal can be taken apart like an interlocking mechanical puzzle | MG | 253 | ? | P | v238 n1 |
Feb | 78 | Checker jumping, Sichermann dice, and Kruskal's card trick | MG | 254 | ? | P | v238 n2 |
Mar | 78 | Count dracula, alice, portia, others consider logic twists | MG | 255 | Raymond Smullyan | L | v238 n3 |
Apr | 78 | White and brown music, fractal curves and 1/f fluctuations | MG | 256 | See covers | R | v238 n4 |
May | 78 | The bells, numbers that can count partitions of a set, primes, rhymes | MG | 257 | ? | T | v238 n5 |
Jun | 78 | A mathematical zoo of astounding critters, imaginary and otherwise | MG | 258 | ? | P | v238 n6 |
Jul | 78 | On Charles Sanders Pierce, philosopher and gamesman | MG | 259 | pragmatism | L | v239 n1 |
Aug | 78 | A möbius band has finite thickness, and so it is actually a twisted prism | MG | 260 | ? | O | v239 n2 |
Sep | 78 | Puzzling over a problem solving matrix, cubes of many colors, and 3d dominoes | MG | 261 | ? | P | v239 n3 |
Oct | 78 | Puzzles and number theory problems arising from the curious fractions of ancient Egypt | MG | 262 | ? | ? | v239 n4 |
Nov | 78 | In which a mathematical aesthetic is applied to modern minimal art | MG | 263 | ? | ? | v239 n5 |
Dec | 78 | Is it a superintelligent robot or does Dr Matrix ride again? | MG | 264 | ? | X | v239 n6 |
Jan | 79 | The diverse pleasures of circles that are tangent to one another | MG | 265 | ? | G | v240 n1 |
Feb | 79 | About rectangling rectangles, parodying Poe and many another pleasing problem | MG | 266 | ? | P | v240 n2 |
Mar | 79 | On altering the past, delaying the future and other ways of tampering with time | MG | 267 | ? | ? | v240 n3 |
Apr | 79 | In which players of tick-tack-toe are taught to hunt bigger game | MG | 268 | ? | A | v240 n4 |
May | 79 | How to be a psychic, even if you are a horse or some other animal | MG | 269 | Steiner triple systems | ? | v240 n5 |
Jun | 79 | Chess problems on a higher plane, including mirror images, rotations and the superqueen | MG | 270 | ? | ? | v240 n6 |
Jul | 79 | Douglas R Hofstadter's Godel, Escher, Bach |
MG | 271 | ? | ? | v241 n1 |
Aug | 79 | The imaginableness of the imaginary numbers | MG | 272 | ? | ? | v241 n2 |
Sep | 79 | In some patterns of numbers or words there may be less than meets the eye | MG | 273 | ? | ? | v241 n3 |
Oct | 79 | Some packing problems that cannot be solved by sitting on the suitcase | MG | 274 | ? | ? | v241 n4 |
Nov | 79 | The random number omega bids fair to hold the mysteries of the universe | MG | 275 | ? | ? | v241 n5 |
Dec | 79 | A pride of problems, including one that is virtually impossible | MG | 276 | ? | ? | v241 n6 |
Jan | 80 | Checkers, a game that can be more interesting than one might think | MG | 277 | ? | ? | v242 n1 |
Feb | 80 | The coloring of unusual maps leads into uncharted territory | MG | 278 | ? | ? | v242 n2 |
Mar | 80 | Graphs that can help cannibals, missionaries, wolves, goats and cabbages get there from here | MG | 279 | ? | ? | v242 n3 |
Apr | 80 | Fun with eggs: uncooked and mathematical | MG | 280 | ? | ? | v242 n4 |
May | 80 | What unifies dinner guests, strolling schoolgirls and handcuffed prisoners? | MG | 281 | Steiner? | ? | v242 n5 |
Jun | 80 | The capture of the monster: a mathematical group with a ridiculous number of elements | MG | 282 | ? | ? | v242 n6 |
Jul | 80 | The pleasures of doing science and technology in the planiverse | MG | 283 | A K Dewdney, See on MAA.org | ? | v243 n1 |
Aug | 80 | On the fine art of putting players, pills and points into their proper pigeonholes | MG | 284 | ? | ? | v243 n2 |
Sep | 80 | Dr Matrix, like Mr Holmes, comes to an untimely and mysterious end | MG | 285 | ? | X | v243 n3 |
Oct | 80 | From counting votes to making votes count: the mathematics of elections | MG | 286 | ? | ? | v243 n4 |
Nov | 80 | Taxicab geometry offers a free ride to a non-Euclidean locale | MG | 287 | ? | ? | v243 n5 |
Dec | 80 | Patterns in primes are a clue to the strong law of small numbers | MG | 288 | ? | ? | v243 n6 |
Jan | 81 | An anagrammatic title introduces a new contributor to this column | DRH | 1 | self-rep | ? | v244 n1 |
Feb | 81 | Gauss's congruence theory was mod as early as 1801 | MG | 289 | ? | ? | v244 n2 |
Mar | 81 | The Magic Cube's cubies are twiddled by cubists and solved by cubemeisters | DRH | 2 | Rubik's cube | ? | v244 n3 |
Apr | 81 | How Lavina finds a room on University Avenue, and other geometric problems | MG | 290 | ? | ? | v244 n4 |
May | 81 | A coffeehouse conversation on the Turing test to determine if a machine can think | DRH | 3 | ? | ? | v244 n5 |
Jun | 81 | The inspired geometrical symmetries of Scott Kim | MG | 291 | ? | ? | v244 n6 |
Jul | 81 | Pitfalls of the uncertainty principle and paradoxes of quantum mechanics | DRH | 4 | ? | ? | v245 n1 |
Aug | 81 | The abstract parabola fits the concrete world | MG | 292 | ? | ? | v245 n2 |
Sep | 81 | How might analogy, the core of human thinking, be understood by computers? | DRH | 5 | ? | ? | v245 n3 |
Oct | 81 | Euclid's parallel postulate and its modern offspring | MG | 293 | ? | ? | v245 n4 |
Nov | 81 | Strange attractors: mathematical patterns delicately poised between order and chaos | DRH | 6 | ? | ? | v245 n5 |
Dec | 81 | The Laffer curve and other laughs in current economics | MG | 294 | ? | ? | v245 n6 |
Jan | 82 | A self-referential column about last January's column about self-reference | DRH | 7 | ? | ? | v246 n1 |
Feb | 82 | About two kinds of inquiry: National Enquirerand The Skeptical Inquirer |
DRH | 8 | ? | ? | v246 n2 |
Mar | 82 | Is the genetic code an arbitrary one, or would another code work as well? | DRH | 9 | ? | ? | v246 n3 |
Apr | 82 | The music of Frederic Chopin: startling aural patterns that also startle the eye | DRH | 10 | ? | ? | v246 n4 |
May | 82 | Number numbness, or why innumeracy may be just as dangerous as illiteracy | DRH | 11 | reckoning | ? | v246 n5 |
Jun | 82 | About Nomic: a heroic game that explores the reflexivity of the law | DRH | 12 | rules | ? | v246 n6 |
Jul | 82 | Beyond Rubik's Cube: spheres, pyramids, dodecahedrons and God knows what else | DRH | 13 | ? | ? | v247 n1 |
Aug | 82 | Undercut, Flaunt, Hruska, behavioral evolution and other games of strategy | DRH | 14 | ? | ? | v247 n2 |
Sep | 82 | Can inspiration be mechanized? | DRH | 15 | ? | ? | v247 n3 |
Oct | 82 | Variations on a theme as the essence of imagination | DRH | 16 | ? | ? | v247 n4 |
Nov | 82 | Default assumptions and their effects on writing and thinking | DRH | 17 | ? | ? | v247 n5 |
Dec | 82 | Sense makes more sense than nonsense, but nonsense may still have its purposes | DRH | 18 | ? | ? | v247 n6 |
Jan | 83 | Virus-like sentences and self-replicating structures | DRH | 19 | ? | ? | v248 n1 |
Feb | 83 | The pleasures of Lisp: the chosen language of artificial intelligence | DRH | 20 | ? | ? | v248 n2 |
Mar | 83 | Tripping the light recursive in Lisp: the language of artificial intelligence | DRH | 21 | ? | ? | v248 n3 |
Apr | 83 | In which the discourse on the language Lisp concludes with a gargantuan Italian feast | DRH | 22 | ? | ? | v248 n4 |
May | 83 | Computer tournaments of the Prisoner's Dilemma suggest how cooperation evolves | DRH | 23 | ? | ? | v248 n5 |
Jun | 83 | The calculus of cooperation is tested through a lottery | DRH | 24 | ? | ? | v248 n6 |
Jul | 83 | Parquet deformations: patterns of tiles that shift gradually in one dimension | DRH | 25 | ? | ? | v249 n1 |
Aug | 83 | Tasks you cannot help finishing no matter how hard you try to block finishing them | MG | 295 | ? | ? | v249 n2 |
Sep | 83 | The topology of knots, plus the results of Hofstadter's Luring Lottery | MG | 296 | ? | ? | v249 n3 |
Oct | 83 | Introducing a department concerned with the pleasures of computation | BH | 1 | Spreadsheets, Life | ? | v249 n4 |
Nov | 83 | A progress report on the fine art of turning literature into drivel | BH | 2 | monkey text | ? | v249 n5 |
Dec | 83 | On the finite-state machine, a minimal model of mousetraps, ribosomes and the human soul | BH | 3 | Turing, Chomsky | ? | v249 n6 |
Jan | 84 | On the ups and downs of hailstone numbers | BH | 4 | ? | ? | v250 n1 |
Feb | 84 | Turning turtle gives one a view of geometry from the inside out | BH | 5 | ? | G | v250 n2 |
Mar | 84 | The cellular automaton offers a model of the world and a world unto itself | BH | 6 | Life | ? | v250 n3 |
Apr | 84 | How to handle numbers with thousands of digits, and why one might want to | FG | 1 | ? | ? | v250 n4 |
May | 84 | In the game called Core War hostile programs engage in a battle of bits | AKD | 1 | ? | C | v250 n5 |
Jun | 84 | On the spaghetti computer and other analog gadgets for problem solving | AKD | 2 | ? | C | v250 n6 |
Jul | 84 | A program that plays checkers can often stay one jump ahead | AKD | 3 | ? | A | v251 n1 |
Aug | 84 | A computer trap for the busy beaver, the hardest working Turing machine | AKD | 4 | ? | ? | v251 n2 |
Sep | 84 | The failings of a digital eye suggest there can be no insight without insight | AKD | 5 | ? | ? | v251 n3 |
Oct | 84 | A computational garden sprouting anagrams, pangrams and a few weeds (Yank D Weed) | AKD | 6 | ? | ? | v251 n4 |
Nov | 84 | Yin and Yang: recursion and iteration, the Tower of Hanoi and the Chinese rings | AKD | 7 | ? | ? | v251 n5 |
Dec | 84 | Sharks and fish wage an ecological war on the toroidal planet WA-TOR | AKD | 8 | ? | ? | v251 n6 |
Jan | 85 | Artificial Insanity: when a schizophrenic program meets a computer analyst | AKD | 9 | racter vs DOCTOR | ? | v252 n1 |
Feb | 85 | An expert system outperforms mere mortals as it conquers the feared Dungeons of Doom | AKD | 10 | ? | C | v252 n2 |
Mar | 85 | A Core War bestiary of viruses, worms and other threats to computer memories | AKD | 11 | ? | C | v252 n3 |
Apr | 85 | Five easy pieces for a do loop and a random number generator | AKD | 12 | ? | C | v252 n4 |
May | 85 | Building computers in one dimension sheds light on irreducibly complicated phenomena | AKD | 13 | Life, automata | C | v252 n5 |
Jun | 85 | Analog gadgets that solve a diversity of problem and raise an array of questions | AKD | 14 | ? | C | v252 n6 |
Jul | 85 | A circuitous odyssey from Robotropolis to the electronic gates of Silicon Valley | AKD | 15 | ? | C | v253 n1 |
Aug | 85 | A computer microscope zooms in for a look at the most complex object in mathematics | AKD | 16 | Attractors, Mandelbrot Set | F | v253 n2 |
Sep | 85 | At Bell Labs work is play and terminal diseases are benign | AKD | 17 | Crabs, Blit | ? | v253 n3 |
Oct | 85 | Bill's baffling burrs, Coffin's cornucopia, Engel's enigma | AKD | 18 | puzzles | ? | v253 n4 |
Nov | 85 | Exploring genetic algorithms in a primordial computer sea full of flibs (finite living blobs) | AKD | 19 | ? | ? | v253 n5 |
Dec | 85 | The search for an invisible ruler that will help radio astronomers to measure the earth | AKD | 20 | Golumb rulers | ? | v253 n6 |
Jan | 86 | How close encounters with star clusters are achieved with a computer telescope | AKD | 21 | n-body gravity simulation | ? | v254 n1 |
Feb | 86 | The king (a chess program) is dead, long live the king (a chess machine) | AKD | 22 | ? | ? | v254 n2 |
Mar | 86 | How a pair of dull-witted programs can look like geniuses on IQ tests | AKD | 23 | ? | ? | v254 n3 |
Apr | 86 | A program for rotating hypercubes induces four-dimensional dementia | AKD | 24 | ? | ? | v254 n4 |
May | 86 | Branching phylogenies of the Palaeozoic and the fortunes of English family names | AKD | 25 | paleotree and neotree | ? | v254 n5 |
Jun | 86 | Casting a net on a checkerboard and other puzzles of the forest | MG | 297 | Steiner Trees | A | v254 n6 |
Jul | 86 | A sublime flight of fancy over a deserted data base | AKD | 26 | flight simulator | ? | v255 n1 |
Aug | 86 | Digital prestidigitation: the fine art of magic and illusion by computer | AKD | 27 | ? | C | v255 n2 |
Sep | 86 | Wallpaper for the mind: computer images that are almost, but not quite repetitive | AKD | 28 | ? | C | v255 n3 |
Oct | 86 | The compleat computer caricaturist and a whimsical tour of face space | AKD | 29 | FACEBENDER | ? | v255 n4 |
Nov | 86 | Star Trek emerges from the underground to a place in the home-computer arcade | AKD | 30 | ? | ? | v255 n5 |
Dec | 86 | Of fractal mountains, graftal plants and other computer graphics at Pixar | AKD | 31 | mountains, plants | F | v255 n6 |
Jan | 87 | A program called MICE nibbles its way to victory at the first Core War tournament | AKD | 32 | ? | C | v256 n1 |
Feb | 87 | The game Life acquires some successors in three dimensions | AKD | 33 | ? | ? | v256 n2 |
Mar | 87 | Braitenberg memoirs: vehicles for probing behavior roam a dark plain marked by lights | AKD | 34 | ? | ? | v256 n3 |
Apr | 87 | The sound of computing is music to the ears of some | AKD | 35 | ? | ? | v256 n4 |
May | 87 | Of bulls, bears and programs in the pit | AKD | 36 | Stock Market | ? | v256 n5 |
Jun | 87 | Algopuzzles: wherein trains of thought follow algorithmic tracks to solutions | AKD | 37 | ? | ? | v256 n6 |
Jul | 87 | Probing the strange attractions of chaos | AKD | 38 | ? | F | v257 n1 |
Aug | 87 | Words ladders and a tower of Babel lead to computational heights defying assault | AKD | 39 | ? | ? | v257 n2 |
Sep | 87 | Diverse personalities search for social equilibrium at a computer party | AKD | 40 | ? | ? | v257 n3 |
Oct | 87 | After MAD: a computer game of nuclear strategy that ends in a Prisoner's Dilemma | AKD | 41 | party planner | ? | v257 n4 |
Nov | 87 | Beauty and profundity: the Mandelbrot set and a flock of cousins called Julia | AKD | 42 | ? | F | v257 n5 |
Dec | 87 | Simple special effects illustrate the art of converting algorithms into programs | AKD | 43 | Worms | C | v257 n6 |
Jan | 88 | Nanotechnology: wherein molecular computers control tiny circulatory submarines | AKD | 44 | ? | C | v258 n1 |
Feb | 88 | A blind watchmaker surveys the land of biomorphs | AKD | 45 | WATHCMAKER | ? | v258 n2 |
Mar | 88 | A home computer laboratory in which balls become gases, liquids and critical masses | AKD | 46 | ? | v258 n3 | |
Apr | 88 | An ancient rope-and-pulley computer is unearthed in the jungle of Apraphul | AKD | 47 | Bounce, Blend, Boom | ? | v258 n4 |
May | 88 | The invisible professor holds a chalk-talk sessions on the display monitor | AKD | 48 | ? | ? | v258 n5 |
Jun | 88 | Imagination meets geometry in the crystalline realm of latticeworks | AKD | 49 | ? | G | v258 n6 |
Jul | 88 | How to pan for primes in numerical gravel | AKD | 50 | ? | ? | v259 n1 |
Aug | 88 | The hodgepodge machine makes waves | AKD | 51 | cellular automata | ? | v259 n2 |
Sep | 88 | Old and new three-dimensional mazes | AKD | 52 | ? | ? | v259 n3 |
Oct | 88 | On making an breaking Codes: Part I | AKD | 53 | ? | ? | v259 n4 |
Nov | 88 | On making an breaking Codes: Part II | AKD | 54 | ? | ? | v259 n5 |
Dec | 88 | Random walks that lead to fractal crowds | AKD | 55 | ? | F | v259 n6 |
Jan | 89 | People puzzles: theme and variations | AKD | 56 | ? | ? | v260 n1 |
Feb | 89 | A tour of the Mandelbrot set aboard the Mandelbus | AKD | 57 | ? | F | v260 n2 |
Mar | 89 | Of worms, viruses and Core War | AKD | 58 | ? | C | v260 n3 |
Apr | 89 | A matter fabricator provides matter for thought | AKD | 59 | ? | ? | v260 n4 |
May | 89 | Simulated Evolution: wherein bugs learn to hunt bacteria | AKD | 60 | ? | ? | v260 n5 |
Jun | 89 | A potpourri of programmed prose. Mark v. Shaney (a computer program) | AKD | 61 | ? | ? | v260 n6 |
Jul | 89 | Catch of the day: biomorphs on Truchet tiles, served with popcorn and snails | AKD | 62 | ? | ? | v261 n1 |
Aug | 89 | A cellular universe of debris, droplets, defects, and demons | AKD | 63 | cellular automaton | ? | v261 n2 |
Sep | 89 | Two dimensional Turing Machines and tur-mites make tracks on a plane | AKD | 64 | ? | ? | v261 n3 |
Oct | 89 | A Tinkertoy computer that plays tic-tac-toe | AKD | 65 | ? | ? | v261 n4 |
Nov | 89 | A microgolf game gives professionals and amatuers an equal chance for a hole in one | AKD | 66 | reflections | ? | v261 n5 |
Dec | 89 | A pandora's box of minds, machines and metaphysics | AKD | 67 | Roger Penrose | ? | v261 n6 |
Jan | 90 | The cellular autonoma programs that create wireworld, rugworld and other diversions | AKD | 68 | ? | ? | v262 n1 |
Feb | 90 | ||||||
Mar | 90 | Lunar infants, lotteries and meteorites expose the dangers of math abuse | AKD | 69 | ? | ? | v262 n3 |
Apr | 90 | ||||||
May | 90 | How to transform flights of fancy into fractal flora or fauna | AKD | 70 | ? | F | v262 n5 |
Jun | 90 | ||||||
Jul | 90 | An odd journey along even roads lead to home in Golygon City | AKD | 71 | ? | ? | v263 n1 |
Aug | 90 | ||||||
Sep | 90 | How to resurrect a cat from its grin | AKD | 72 | CAT Scan | ? | v263 n3 |
Oct | 90 | ||||||
Nov | 90 | A compendium of math abuse from around the world | AKD | 73 | ? | ? | v263 n5 |
Dec | 90 | Fermat's Christmas Theorem is explained in one dickens of a tale | IAN | 1 | ? | ? | v263 n6 |
Jan | 91 | Tools for computer graphics make an invisible world seem less alien | AKD | 74 | ? | ? | v264 n1 |
Feb | 91 | The true story of how Theseus found his way out of the labyrinth | IAN | 2 | depth first search puzzles | P | v264 n2 |
Mar | 91 | A menu of mathematical morsels, topological tidbits and puzzling plums | AKD | 75 | combinatorics | P | v264 n3 |
Apr | 91 | Why Tarzan and Jane can walk in step with the animals that roam the jungle | IAN | 3 | gaits | S | v264 n4 |
May | 91 | The theory of rigidity, or how to brace youself against unlikely accidents | AKD | 76 | ? | ? | v264 n5 |
Jun | 91 | Swift Trip over rugged terrain | IAN | 4 | Gulliver's Theorem | O | v264 n6 |
Jul | 91 | Insectoids invade a field of robots, Mathematical Recreations | AKD | 77 | ? | ? | v265 n1 |
Aug | 91 | What in heaven is a digital sundial? | IAN | 5 | fractal, shadows | F | v265 n2 |
Sep | 91 | Leaping into Lyapunov space | AKD | 78 | ? | ? | v265 n3 |
Oct | 91 | Concentration: A Winning Strategy | IAN | 6 | card game, matching | v265 n4 | |
Nov | 91 | ||||||
Dec | 91 | A Short Trek to Infinity | IAN | 7 | N body simulation, singularity | v265 n6 | |
Jan | 92 | ||||||
Feb | 92 | The Kissing Number | IAN | 8 | disks, spheres | v266 n2 | |
Mar | 92 | ||||||
Apr | 92 | All paths lead away from Rome | IAN | 9 | squiral, lion, gladiator, arena | v266 n4 | |
May | 92 | ||||||
Jun | 92 | The Riddle of the vanishing camel | IAN | 10 | dividing herd fairly | Y | v266 n6 |
Jul | 92 | ||||||
Aug | 92 | Interplanetary Olympics | IAN | 11 | gravity | v267 n2 | |
Sep | 92 | ||||||
Oct | 92 | Murder at the Ghastleigh Grange | IAN | 12 | hamiltonian network | Y | v267 n4 |
Nov | 92 | ||||||
Dec | 92 | Christmas in the house of chaos | IAN | 13 | kaleidoscope | S | v267 n6 |
Jan | 93 | ||||||
Feb | 93 | A Partly true Story | IAN | 14 | fuzzy self-reference logical attractor |
L | v268 n2 |
Mar | 93 | ||||||
Apr | 93 | The Rise and Fall of the Lunar M-pire | IAN | 15 | map coloring | Y | v268 n4 |
May | 93 | ||||||
Jun | 93 | A Bundling Fool beats the wrap | IAN | 16 | sphere packing | v268 n6 | |
Jul | 93 | The Topological Dressmaker | IAN | 17 | board game polynomino | v269 n1 | |
Aug | 93 | ||||||
Sep | 93 | A shepherd takes a Sheep Shot | IAN | 18 | v269 n3 | ||
Oct | 93 | ||||||
Nov | 93 | Fermat's Last Time-Trip | IAN | 19 | 350 years of math progress | v269 n5 | |
Dec | 93 | ||||||
Jan | 94 | Knots, Links and Videotape | IAN | 20 | Barromean Rings | G | v270 n1 |
Feb | 94 | ||||||
Mar | 94 | The New Merology of Beastly Numbers | IAN | 21 | numerology, Sallows | v270 n3 | |
Apr | 94 | ||||||
May | 94 | How many guards in the gallery? | IAN | 22 | illumination walls | v270 n5 | |
Jun | 94 | ||||||
Jul | 94 | The ultimate in Anty-particles | IAN | 23 | Langton, rule-based systems | v271 n1 | |
Aug | 94 | ||||||
Sep | 94 | A subway named Turing | IAN | 24 | v271 n3 | ||
Oct | 94 | ||||||
Nov | 94 | Playing Chess on a Go board | IAN | 25 | turing machine | A | v271 n5 |
Dec | 94 | ||||||
Jan | 95 | Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer do, | IAN | 26 | plant growth fibonacci | v272 n1 | |
Feb | 95 | ||||||
Mar | 95 | Turning the Tables around | IAN | 27 | sliding block puzzle | Z | v272 n3 |
Apr | 95 | ||||||
May | 95 | Fibonacci Forgeries | IAN | 28 | Richard K. Guy | v272 n5 | |
Jun | 95 | ||||||
Jul | 95 | Election Fever in Blockvotia | IAN | 29 | voting, lattice | v273 n1 | |
Aug | 95 | ||||||
Sep | 95 | The Great Drain Robbery | IAN | 30 | trenches | G | v273 n3 |
Oct | 96 | The Never-Ending Chess Game | IAN | 31 | v275 n4 | ||
Nov | 95 | Ways to tile space with knots | IAN | 32 | v273 n5 | ||
Dec | 95 | The Anthopomurphic principle | IAN | 33 | Murphy's Law, toast | v273 n6 | |
Jan | 96 | Mother Worms Blanket | IAN | 34 | covering curves | v274 n1 | |
Feb | 96 | Proof of purchase on the Internet | IAN | 35 | zero-knowledge protocols, encryption, three color map |
v274 n2 | |
Mar | 96 | Playing with Quads and Quazars | IAN | 36 | game, grid | v274 n3 | |
Apr | 96 | How fair is Monopoly? | IAN | 37 | probability, markov | v274 n4 | |
May | 96 | The Sculptures of Alan St. George | IAN | 38 | fractal | F | v274 n5 |
Jun | 96 | Plastic Numbers | IAN | 39 | perrin numbers, Richard Padovan | v274 n6 | |
Jul | 96 | Arithmetic and Old Lace | IAN | 40 | shoe lacings | v275 n1 | |
Aug | 96 | Shedding a little darkness | IAN | 41 | illuminating, polygon, rooms | v275 n2 | |
Sep | 96 | Interrogator's Fallacy | IAN | 42 | probability, confessions | v275 n3 | |
Oct | 96 | Monopoly Revisited | IAN | 43 | Go To Jail! | v275 n4 | |
Nov | 96 | A guide to computer dating | IAN | 44 | calendrical computations | v275 n5 | |
Dec | 96 | Cows in the maze | IAN | 45 | Robert Abbott, supermazes | v275 n6 | |
Jan | 97 | Alphamagic Squares | IAN | 46 | Sallows, logorithm(sic) | v276 n1 | |
Feb | 97 | Crystallography of a golf ball | IAN | 47 | dimple patterns, icosahedron, symmetry |
v276 n2 | |
Mar | 97 | Juniper Green (an educational number game) | IAN | 48 | Porteus, primality, factoring | v276 n3 | |
Apr | 97 | Knight's Tours | IAN | 49 | chess | v276 n4 | |
May | 97 | Big Game hunting in Primeland | IAN | 50 | primality, factoring | v276 n5 | |
Jun | 97 | Sifting the Sands of Factorland | IAN | 51 | Sieve of Eratosthenes | v276 n6 | |
Jul | 97 | Squaring the Square | IAN | 52 | tiling | v277 n1 | |
Aug | 97 | Empires on the Moon | IAN | 53 | map coloring, m-pire | Y | v277 n2 |
Sep | 97 | Empires and Electronics | IAN | 54 | PCB short circuits | Y | v277 n3 |
Oct | 97 | Two-way jigsaw puzzles | IAN | 55 | dissections, Bolyas-Gerwein theorem | v277 n4 | |
Nov | 97 | Lore and Lure of the dice | IAN | 56 | transitivity, probability | v277 n5 | |
Dec | 97 | Cat's Cradle calculus challenge | IAN | 57 | string theory (pun) | v277 n6 | |
Jan | 98 | Double Bubble, Toil and Trouble | IAN | 58 | Plateau's Rule least surface area, bubbles |
v278 n1 | |
Feb | 98 | Tight Tins for round sardines | IAN | 59 | packing, combinatorial geometry | G | v278 n2 |
Mar | 98 | Glass Klein Bottles | IAN | 60 | - | O | v278 n3 |
Apr | 98 | Repealing the Law of Averages | IAN | 61 | coin flipping, random walk | R | v278 n4 |
May | 98 | Cementing Relationships | IAN | 62 | Callan's Sculpture Voronoi cells |
G | v278 n5 |
Jun | 98 | What a coincidence! | IAN | 63 | birthday coincidences, probability | v278 n6 | |
Jul | 98 | The Bellows Conjecture | IAN | 64 | polygons, polyhedron, flexible, volume |
v279 n1 | |
Aug | 98 | A Quarter Century of Recreational Mathematics | MGA | 4 | Retrospective | ? | v279 n2 |
Aug | 98 | Monks, Blobs and Common Knowledge | IAN | 65 | logic, two player games | A | v279 n2 |
Sep | 98 | Counting the Pyramid Builders | IAN | 66 | schedule, manpower | v279 n3 | |
Oct | 98 | Playing with chocolate | IAN | 67 | Yucky Chocolate, chomp | v279 n4 | |
Nov | 98 | Resurrection Shuffle | IAN | 68 | shuffling cards | v279 n5 | |
Dec | 98 | Your Half's bigger than my Half! | IAN | 69 | fairness, sharing | v279 n6 | |
Jan | 99 | Division without Envy | IAN | 70 | fairness, sharing | v280 n1 | |
Feb | 99 | Origami Tessellations | IAN | 71 | buckling, dimples | v280 n2 | |
Mar | 99 | The synchronicity of firefly flashing | IAN | 72 | absorbtion, oscillation | v280 n3 | |
Apr | 99 | Tangling with Topology | IAN | 73 | telephone cord, DNA, elastic energy | O | v280 n4 |
May | 99 | A Puzzle for Pirates | IAN | 74 | fair division, fierceness | v280 n5 | |
Jun | 99 | Crossed lines in the brick factory | IAN | 75 | topology too? | Y | v280 n6 |
Jul | 99 | The art of elegant tiling | IAN | 76 | Grazebrook | Z | v281 n1 |
Aug | 99 | Sierpinski's Ubiquitous Gasket | IAN | 77 | ? | ? | v281 n2 |
Sep | 99 | Dances with Dodecahedra | IAN | 78 | ? | ? | v281 n3 |
Oct | 99 | Cone with a Twist | IAN | 79 | ? | ? | v281 n4 |
Nov | 99 | Most-Perfect Magic Squares | IAN | 80 | ? | ? | v281 n5 |
Dec | 99 | Defend the Roman Empire! | IAN | 81 | ? | ? | v281 n6 |
Jan | 00 | Impossibility Theorems | IAN | 82 | ? | ? | v82 n1 |
Feb | 00 | Real and Virtual Sculptures | IAN | 83 | ? | ? | v82 n2 |
Mar | 00 | A Strategy for Subsets | IAN | 84 | ? | ? | v82 n3 |
Apr | 00 | Counting the Cattle of the Sun — Some problems are too big to solve by trial and error | IAN | 85 | ? | ? | v82 n4 |
May | 00 | Rep-Tiling the Plane — A new method makes it easy to generate intricate designs | IAN | 86 | ? | ? | v82 n5 |
Jun | 00 | Paradox Lost — Careful analysis can untangle some logical conundrums | IAN | 87 | ? | ? | v82 n6 |
Jul | 00 | Knotting Ventured... Shows how pieces of string can illustrate the principles of symmetry | IAN | 88 | ? | ? | v83 n1 |
Aug | 00 | A Fractal Guide to Tic-Tac-Toe — Finds a familiar shape in unexpected places | IAN | 89 | ? | ? | v83 n2 |
Sep | 00 | Hex Marks the Spot — Shows how to make some winning connections | IAN | 90 | ? | ? | v83 n3 |
Oct | 00 | Million-Dollar Minesweeper — Explains how a computer game can make you rich | IAN | 91 | ? | ? | v83 n4 |
Nov | 00 | Spiral Slime — Finds mathematics in creatures great and small | IAN | 92 | ? | ? | v83 n5 |
Dec | 00 | Jumping Champions — Leaps over the gaps between prime numbers | IAN | 93 | ? | ? | v83 n6 |
Jan | 01 | Dots-and-Boxes for Experts — Reveals the secret subtleties of a children's game | IAN | 94 | ? | ? | v84 n1 |
Feb | 01 | Pursuing Polygonal Privacy — Proves that good fences make good neighbors | IAN | 95 | ? | ? | v84 n2 |
Mar | 01 | Easter is a Quasicrystal — Reveals the divine mathematics of a holiday | IAN | 96 | 96th & last column | ? | v84 n3 |
Then DRH and MG alternated for one year.
Then DRH continued solo, running his count up to 25 articles.
Then MG supplied two columns (#295 and #296).
Then Brian Hayes did six columns.
Then Fred Gruenberger did a column!
Then AK Dewdney did 73 (interrupted by #297 from MG).
Then AKD and IAN alternated during ~1991, bringing AKD total to 78.
IAN went on to complete a total of 96 columns.
If you count {MAR52, DEC56, JAN67, JUN86}, Martin had 301 articles and columns in SciAm. If you count Mathematical Games only, that would be 297.
This index was created and is maintained by John Miller, Portland, Oregon. Read about John's connection to Martin.
I started the index in the 1970's on 80-column punch cards. Late 70's, I migrated it from IBM 1130 system to VAX 11/780, and a homegrown database. Late 1980's, imported into a Macintosh spreadsheet.
While on Sabattical in 1988-89, I finished compiling the Subject lines of all the years of Martin Gardner's columns by visiting the Portland State University library to peruse months earlier than in my own collection. I also indexed subsequent incarnations, such as Metamagical Themas. Since I compiled the index for my personal use, I sometimes abbreviated titles, and a few short titles may remain (11/2014).
When WWW came along, I used Perl to generate an HTML table from CSV text file. Same way today, with data exported from Open Office.
On October 8th, 2014, certain fields were pirated over to Wikipedia (now out of date). On October 23rd, we moved the index here to martin-gardner.org for safe keeping. Eventually, G4G may put this site into a content management system.