puzzles

The Monty Hall Problem

21 June 2010

A look at the famous and controversial probability puzzle, the Monty Hall problem. Cars or goats anyone?

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Eliminating the irrelevant

10 June 2010

Part two of the “Tuesday’s Child” probability puzzle: why I think that the classical solution is wrong.

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Tuesday’s Child

8 June 2010

Following on from the teasers in the probability paradoxes post, here is a closer look at “Tuesday’s child”. While it may not strictly be a paradox, it still has the rich potential for generating controversy.

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Probability Paradoxes

7 June 2010
Thumbnail image of a goat

Tuesday’s child, Monty Hall and the Envelope…a look at three famous probability paradoxes. I will discuss my thoughts on each of these in future posts. Meanwhile, feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

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Vale Martin Gardner

28 May 2010

I was saddened to hear today that Martin Gardner has passed away at the age of 95. Born in 1914, Gardner was a prolific and gifted writer. He is best known for his mathematical and scientific writing, but he also dabbled in magic and philosophy. His The Annoted Alice is perhaps the ultimate edition of [...]

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Five Down

7 May 2010

One of my favourite blogs is Futility Closet, which is sadly appropriate given its tagline “An idler’s miscellany”. This week it featured a puzzle called Five Down devised by the English mathematician Henry Dudeney. Since the subject of the puzzle is money, it seems like an appropriate one to share here on the Mule.

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