Shireen Stephen

Memory Booster Shireen Stephen

1IntroductionHuman beings have always been fascinated with puzzles and brain teasers. Archimedes was probably the first person in history to build a puzzle. It was known as the Loculus Archimedis, or Archemedes' Box, and was a cross between a jigsaw puzzle and a tangram. Historical records reveal that he enjoyed coming up with challenging problems for his peers to solve. Biblical kings such as Solomon and Hiram used to have riddle contests. More recently, famous writers such as Edgar Allan Poe, Lewis Carroll and J. R. R. Tolkien, entrepreneurs such as Leonardo da Vinci and Benjamin Franklin and architects such as Ern? Rubik have all been fascinated with developing and solving puzzles. This fascination continues today in the form of brain teasers in daily newspapers, quiz shows on television, game tournaments and of course, puzzle books.