'The Raven's Hat' by Jonas Peters presents a collection of intriguing games that initially appear unsolvable but can be deciphered using mathematical concepts. This book offers an engaging way for readers to apply mathematical thinking to real-world scenarios, enhancing their problem-solving skills while having fun. With its accessible language and challenging puzzles, this is a great book for my context - promoting mathematical curiosity and exploration among high school students.

Don't be fooled by the beguiling, opera-singing, card-playing, hat-wearing ravens in "The Raven's Hat." Authors Jonas Peters and Nicolai Meinshausen have crafted a serious mathematical puzzle book.

The book posits different game scenarios where the ravens have to figure out something based on incomplete information gleaned by observing their fellow ravens. For example, the ravens have to figure out what color hat each raven is wearing, but they can only see the hats which are in front of them. None of the ravens can see the last raven's hat. The authors do guide the reader through the process of figuring the various puzzles, but this is not a book for someone casually interested in math or mathematical games. If it's been a while since you've had a higher math class, or the phrase "binomial coefficient" causes you a vague sense of dread, this isn't the book for you.

It is, however, thorough, and enjoyable in places. The raven illustrations by Malte Meinshausen are engaging, and kept me entertained through the detailed explanations and formulae, some of which I admit, frankly lost me, or maybe were just so detailed that I stopped caring what the solution was.

Recommended for math lovers, but not the layperson.

I received a copy from NetGalley and The MIT Press in exchange for my honest review.

I couldn't download this book properly. The format was difficult to read and 'The Property of MIT' stamp across every single page made it even more difficult with some of the formulas partially covered up. Thanks anyway and loved the cover.