How to Solve It: A New Aspect of Mathematical Method

Description

[MR2183670](https://mathscinet.ams.org/mathscinet-getitem?mr=2183670)This version of the classic book by G. Polya is enhanced with a foreword by John H. Conway (see also the earlier versions [1945; [MR0011666](https://mathscinet.ams.org/mathscinet/search/publdoc.html?r=1&pg1=MR&s1=11666&loc=fromrevtext); 1988; [MR1090087](https://mathscinet.ams.org/mathscinet/search/publdoc.html?r=1&pg1=MR&s1=1090087&loc=fromrevtext)]). From the foreword: "How to solve it is a wonderful book! This I realized when I first read right through it as a student many years ago, but it has taken me a long time to appreciate just how wonderful it is. Why is that? One part of the answer is that the book is unique. In all my years as a student and teacher, I have never seen another that lives up to George Polya's title by teaching you how to go about solving problems.'' * * *A perennial bestseller by eminent mathematician G. Polya, How to Solve It will show anyone in any field how to think straight. In lucid and appealing prose, Polya reveals how the mathematical method of demonstrating a proof or finding an unknown can be of help in attacking any problem that can be "reasoned" out—from building a bridge to winning a game of anagrams. Generations of readers have relished Polya's deft—indeed, brilliant—instructions on stripping away irrelevancies and going straight to the heart of the problem.