Half a Century of Pythagoras Magazine

Abstract

In 1960, a mathematical journal for high school students was founded in the Netherlands, an idea of the Dutch mathematician Hans Freudenthal. Its name: Pythagoras. The first two editors were the mathematicians Gerrit Krooshof and Bruno Ernst, the latter being a personal friend and biographer of the Dutch graphic artist Maurits Escher. The "impossible figures" of Escher have been an ever-recurring subject over the years. In 2011, the editors compiled problems, riddles, games, and articles from fifty years of Pythagoras into a book, to celebrate half a century of the magazine's existence. Now, four years later, an English translation of this anniversary book appears, supplemented with some additional articles from the magazine. Bruno Ernst compared mathematics to a luxuriant garden: high in the trees are the brilliant mathematicians, who have been toiling for years to reach the top. But down on the grass, within everybody's reach, there are beautiful flowers to pick as well. With many subjects in this book, everybody can make a start to pick them, especially in the first two chapters. Some puzzles belong to mathematical folklore. The greater part however stems from the minds of the many editors over the years. Apart from puzzles and games there are articles on art, geometry, and numbers. But beware, there is also a lot of more challenging mathematics for the connoisseur. Half a Century of Pythagoras Magazine is a rich treasure for everybody who enjoys the beauty of mathematics.