Tangram
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Tangram is an ancient Chinese puzzle.
It consists of 7 pieces, called Tans, which fit together to form a square:
- 5 triangles of various sizes,
- 1 square
- 1 parallelogram
The objective is to form a given shape with seven pieces. The shape has to contain all the pieces, which must not overlap.
It is said that the Pythagorean theorem was discovered in the Orient with help of Tangram pieces.
The puzzler Sam Loyd devised many tangram puzzles.
The word "tangram" doesn't mean anything in Chinese. The English word is built from TANG + GRAM. In the Cantonese dialect, Tang (唐) is a synonym of "Chinese".
Missing image
Tangram-man.png
Tangram-man.png
See also
Bibliography
- 2nd Scientific American Book of Mathematical Puzzles and Diversions, Martin Garner, Simon & Schuster, 1961
- A Heuristic Solution to the Tangram Puzzle, E. S. Deutsch & K. C. Hayes Jr., Machine Intelligence v7, p205-240, 1972
- A Sage's Journey, The Story of Tangrams, John L. Lehet, Mathmaverick Press, 1998
- A Teacher's Guide to Tangram Mastery, Allan F. Hirsch, Alleyoop Enterprises, 1996
- A Theorem on Tangram, F. T. Wang & C. C. Hsiung, American Mathematical Monthly v49, 1942
- Adventure of the Beutiful Princess in Triangle Land, F. Gregory Hartswick, Siman & Schuster Publishers, 1925
- Amusements in Mathematics, H. E. Dudeney, Dover Publications, 1958
- Anno's Math Games, Mitsumasa Anno, Philomel Books
- Creative Puzzles of the World, Pieter Van Delft & Jack Botermans, Harry N, Abrams Inc., 1978
- Geometry and Fractions with Tangrams, Barbara Bando Irvin
- Granfather 'Tang's Story, Ann Tompert, Crown Publisher, Inc., 1990
- Mathematical Games-on the Fanciful History and the Creative Challenges of the Puzzle Game of Tangrams, Martin Garner, Scientific American, p98-103, Aug. 1974
- More on Tangrams, Martin Garner, Scientific American, p187-191, Sep. 1974
- Puzzles of Old and New, Jerry Slocum & Jack Botermans, 1986
- Pythagoras-A Game of 179 Puzzles, Kohner Bros. Inc. (179 shapes)
- Sam Loyd's Book of Tangram Puzzles (The 8th Book of Tan Part I), Sam Loyd, Dover Publications, 1968
- Tangram ABC Kit, Susan Johnston, Dover Publications
- Tangram Patterns, Thomas Foster, Creative Publications Inc., 1977
- Tangram Puzzle Game Binary Arts ISBN 0641509146
- Tangram Puzzles: 500 Tricky Shapes to Confound & Astound / Includes Deluxe Wood Tangrams Chris Crawford ISBN 080697589X 2002 Sterling Publishing Company (500 shapes)
- Tangram, The Ancient Chinese Shapes Game, Joost Elfers, Penguin Books, 1976
- Tangramath, Dale Seymour, Creative Publications Inc., 1971
- Tangrams, 330 Puzzles, Ronald C. Read, Dover Publications, 1965 ISBN 0486214834 (330 shapes)
- Tangrams, Harry Lindgren, Journal of Recreational Mathematics, p184-192, 1969
- Tangrams, I Ching Games of Duke Tan of Chou and C. C. T'ung, H. Y. Li, Cadleon Press, 1971
- Tangrams, Picture Making Puzzle Game, Peter Van Note, Tuttle
- Tangrams: 1,600 Ancient Chinese Puzzles, Joost Elffers, Michael Schuyt Barnes & Noble Books, September 2001 ISBN 0760727120 (1,600 shapes) box with pieces
- The Book of Ingenious and Diabolic Puzzles, Jerry Slocum & Jack Botermans, Random House Inc., 1994
- The Fun with Tangram Kit, Susan Johnston, Dover Publications
- The Master Revealed-A Journey with Tangrams, Barbara E. Ford, Tandoras's Box Press, 1990
- Tangrams - The Magnificent Seven Piece Puzzle, Barbara E. Ford, Tandoras's Box Press, 2003
- The Super Source-Tangrams, Dale Seymour
- The Tangram Book, Jerry Slocum, Dieter Gebhardt, Jacob Botermans, Monica Ma, Xiaohe Ma 2003 ISBN 1402704135 Sterling Publishing Company (1,756 shapes) coffee table book
- World of Games, Their Origin and History, Jack Botermans, 1981
External links
- Tangrams - curiouser.co.uk (http://www.curiouser.co.uk/tangram/tangram.html) Tangram applet, brief history and tangram paradox.
- Tangram Page (http://members.aol.com/sth777/page00.html)
- gTans game (http://gtans.sourceforge.net)
- TANGRAMS -- history -- puzzles -- make -- links (http://www.tangrams.ca/)
- Enchanted Mind Java Puzzles - Tangrams (http://enchantedmind.com/puzzles/tangram/tangram.html)
- Freeware implementation of Tangrams (http://www.ihsan.biz)
- Tangram books by B.E. Ford showing her creative endeavors using Tangrams as a design tool. (http://www.tangrammit.com)