How to Solve It

Description

• Author: G. Polya

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.



Review

E. T. Bell Mathematical Monthly : Every prospective teacher should read it. In particular, graduate students will find it invaluable. The traditional mathematics professor who reads a paper before one of the Mathematical Societies might also learn something from the book: 'He writes a, he says b, he means c; but it should be d.'



Herman Weyl Mathematical Review : [This] elementary textbook on heuristic reasoning, shows anew how keen its author is on questions of method and the formulation of methodological principles. Exposition and illustrative material are of a disarmingly elementary character, but very carefully thought out and selected.



Scientific Monthly : I recommend it highly to any person who is seriously interested in finding out methods of solving problems, and who does not object to being entertained while he does it.



A. C. Schaeffer American Journal of Psychology : Any young person seeking a career in the sciences would do well to ponder this important contribution to the teacher's art.



Review

Any young person seeking a career in the sciences would do well to ponder this important contribution to the teacher's art.