Product Description

"There's no doubt about it. The sudoku craze is an out-and-out phenomenon, spreading faster than you can count to nine. Puzzle books are starting to dominate the bookshelves, but this book is different. It's the very first comprehensive techniques book on the market. In "How to solve sudoku", I give a step-by-step guide to cracking these sometimes infuriating puzzles. So if you are feeling a little grid-locked, here are 52 brilliant tactics to help you get to grips with solving sudoku puzzles. Remember, no arithmetical skills are needed. It is entirely a test of logic (but most of all patience!)." Professor Robin Wilson. What it's about? Professor Robin Wilson reveals 52 tactics for getting to grips with what is currently the fastest growing phenomenon sweeping the world. If you haven't heard about it yet - you will! Sudoku is a number puzzle for all generations, but math phobics should fear not. Each grid can be solved using logic alone. The puzzles vary from straightforward to fist-slamming-on-desk hard. "How to solve sudoku" is unlike any book currently on the market. First of all it's not a puzzle book (although you will find plenty of sample and practice grids). This is the first guide to give substantial advice on strategies and techniques for solving puzzles of all varying degrees of difficulty. In this book readers discover: a brief history of sudoku; fundamental terminology and some basic theory; how to get started (scan your rows and fill your gaps!); The vital techniques required to solve every kind of puzzle, from the easy to the diabolical; loads of examples of puzzles worked out with step-by-step instructions, alongside sample and practice grids for interactive learning; and Sudoku worksheets. With the 52 Brilliant Ideas series readers can enhance their existing skills with negligible investment of time or money and will substantially improve their performance over the course of a year. Each of the 52 chapters tackles a single aspect of the subject in an entertaining and lively way. At the end of each chapter is a "how did it go?" feature which allows readers to reflect on the lesson in a classical experiential learning pattern. The tone of each book is personal and informal; readers will feel as thought they are having a one-to-one with their favourite coach.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #99355 in Books
• Published on: 2005-06-22
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 124 pages

From the Author
Are you stuck on sudoku puzzles -- or would like to solve them more easily? This step-by-step guide shows you how to do so, starting with simple puzzles and progressing gradually to much harder ones. Unlike some of its more unwieldy competitors, it is slimline form (suitable for your pocket or handbag), is printed on good quality paper, and costs less than £5. The explanations are very clear throughout, using a convenient notation that makes the book much more readable than some other books on the subject. Sudoku can be a lot of fun -- I hope you'll find that this book makes it even more so.

About the Author
Robin Wilson is Gresham Professor of Geometry in London (England's oldest Chair of Mathematics) University and a Fellow of Keble College, Oxford. He is currently Head of the Pure Mathematics Department at the Open University and is a well-known populariser of mathematics as well as the author of Four Colours Suffice, the bestselling account of the famous and controversial four-colour mathematical problem. He is the author and editor of 30 books ranging from history to mathematics.

Customer Reviews

SUDOKU - START WITH THIS BOOK, USE IT AFTER YOU'RE HOOKED!
Yes, I'm a mathematician, but this book is nothing to do with adding up - it just happens to use numbers. Some Sudoku's use letters of the alphabet, but to be honest it could just be 9 different coloured flower pots - it's to do with how they're arranged, nothing to do with calculations etc. I loved it! This book was my first look at Sudoku, and I strongly recommend it - I am now able to do the puzzles, and I easily understood the logical instructions given. Puzzles are step-by-step, with guidance to teach you how to work out the puzzles without taking a stab in the dark, playing guessing games and getting it wrong! This is an excellent beginners' book, but also a good book of tips for people who have had a go at Sudoku, but are still foxed as to how to get it right.

Sudoku newbie? This is where you start!
I came across Wilson's How to solve sudoku: a step by step guide while I was waiting for my connecting flight in London. Never heard about sudoku before. The book is so simple an well structured so that when I landed in Oslo, I was a sudoku enthusiast already. Now I am a sudoku addict and confident to take any sudoku challenges :)
I highly recommend this book.

Great starter book, this will get you hooked!
I wanted a book that explained and taught the basics of Sudoku, and bought this by chance - it's great! It takes you step-by-step through some puzzles, filling a bit more of the grid in on each page, and gives you plenty of practice puzzles too. The grids are a sensible size with room to work, not tiny grids like some books (however good the Sudoku puzzles are, if the grids are too small, it will drive you nuts!), and the book itself is compact and will slip easily into a pocket without weighing you down. This is a great little starter book, and worth every penny. Definitely value for money, and I can't recommend it highly enough!