What is the name of this book?
The riddle of Dracula and other logical puzzles
by Raymond M. Smullyan · first published 1978
67% recommend33% neutral
Why HN recommends it
A playful puzzle book that builds gradually from simple logic problems to harder ones. It sparks interest in logic and reasoning and suits puzzle fans and curious younger readers.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
"In his most critically acclaimed work, a well-known mathematician, magician, and author spins a logical labyrinth of more than 200 increasingly complex and challenging problems - puzzles that delve into some of the deepest paradoxes of logic and set theory. Solutions."The most original, most profound, and most humorous collection of recreational logic and math problems ever written." - Martin Gardner"--
Affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
Related books
The lady or the tiger?
Raymond M. Smullyan
Recommended by 10 · mentioned by 1210 recommend · 12 mention10 recommend · 1210 recommend
2010–2022Set theory and the continuum problem
Raymond M. Smullyan, Melvin Fitting
0 recommend · 3 mentioned0 recommend · 3 mention0 recommend · 30 recommend
2010–2026The tao is silent
Raymond M. Smullyan
Recommended by 9 · mentioned by 109 recommend · 10 mention9 recommend · 109 recommend
2007–2026The Mind's I
Douglas R. Hofstadter, Daniel C. Dennett
Recommended by 36 · mentioned by 5736 recommend · 57 mention36 recommend · 5736 recommend
2007–2026Siddhartha
Hermann Hesse
Recommended by 138 · mentioned by 186138 recommend · 186 mention138 recommend · 186138 recommend
2007–2026Gödel, Escher, Bach
Douglas R. Hofstadter
Recommended by 505 · mentioned by 1,055505 recommend · 1,055 mention505 recommend · 1,055505 recommend
Lovely article with some interesting puzzles near the bottom (and top). When I was young, Martin Gardner's puzzle books, along with Raymond Smullyan's 'What Is The Name Of This Book?'[1], introduced me to logic and to the fact that mathematics could be fun - something that was very influential in going on to study maths and computer science. I thoroughly recommend checking them out…
on “Martin Gardner, puzzle master extraordinaire” ↗"What Is The Name Of This Book?" by Raymond Smullyan is a great book if you like puzzles or want a playful way to improve your logic/reasoning skills. It does a really good job of incrementally building up to more complicated problems.…
on “Ask HN: Books that change your way of thinking?” ↗Challenged by What Is the Name of This Book but loved it. If Hofstadter hadn't changed my life forever, maybe Smullyan would have.
on “Raymond Smullyan has died” ↗I finished What is the name of this book? by Smullyan and am halfway through The Lady or the Tiger? (also Smullyan). I'd read the latter years ago along with one other book of his. I'll find out which it was when I get to it and recognize the…
on “Ask HN: What books have you read recently?” ↗…looking for more short stories, I highly recommend the following: • Ted Chiang's Exhalation • Ted Chiang's Story of Your Life and Others • Ken Liu's Paper Menagerie • Borges's Ficciones • Smullyan's What is the Name of This Book? • Smullyan's Lady or the Tiger? • Douglas Adams's God's Debris Remember to support local booksellers when possible :) [2] https://bookshop.org
on “They're Made Out of Meat” ↗I don't have much to add, except that when I read his books -- for me, the ones I fell in love with were The Lady or the Tiger, What is the Name of this Book? and To Mock a Mockingbird -- I felt I was communing with a spirit for whom wit, delight, charm and generosity were one. I'm delighted, and not a bit surprised, to hear he had this sort of presence in…
on “Raymond Smullyan has died” ↗my daughter and i have used "what is the name of this book?" and now "to mock a mockingbird" as the first slot in the day for her homeschooling. his books are really wonderful. public schools should be lousy with them.
on “The Raymond Smullyan Society” ↗In high school I enjoyed reading "What Is the Name of This Book?" Lots of fun. https://archive.org/details/WhatIsTheNameOfThisBook
on “Raymond Smullyan has died” ↗Raymond Smullyan's riddles book What is the Name of This Book paradoxically refers to itself in its title.
on “Ask HN: Examples of Recursion in Literature or Cinema?” ↗Two other stories by Raymond Smullyan: - In "What Is the Name of This Book?" he recalls being introduced to logic at the age of six. - In "The Lady or the Tiger?" (if I remember correctly), a friend asks Raymond not to tell his child that the puzzles he's enjoying are actually…
on “Attention Spans for Math and Stories (2019)” ↗…of my favorite Smullyan works is the lesser-known 5000 B.C. and Other Philosophical Fantasies. Here's one of the more amusing anecdotes from that book: In item #249 of my book of logic puzzles titled What Is the Name of This Book?, I describe an infallible method of proving anything whatsoever. Only a magician is capable of employing the method, however. I once used it on [noted philosopher] Rudolph Carnap to prove the existence…
on “Raymond Smullyan has died” ↗…AI can think in models but so far, not but still an impressive assisting tool if you take care of its limitations. Another point where it lacks is in logic, my daughter has a lot of fun with the book "what is the name of this book?" but she was struggling with the "map of baal" explanation, her the answer was a certain map, yet the book had another answer, I had a third one as I interpreted a proposition. I never got an answer…
on “Employees Are Feeding Sensitive Biz Data to ChatGPT, Raising Security Fears” ↗