Simplicity

Abstract

One hundred and sixty years ago, the iconoclastic hermit of Walden Pond offered this advice: “simplify, simplify!” One can only wonder what Thoreau would have thought today. My new cell phone came with 50 pages of instructions, and Lasser’s latest income tax guide has over 800 pages, most of which are incomprehensible to me. Do things really need to be that complicated? Our natural yearning for simplicity might also apply to mathematical recreations, and more specifically to my special interest, which is geometrical and mechanical puzzles. Historically, it has been the simpler amusements that have usually enjoyed the most enduring popularity. Tinkertoys and building blocks are likely to still be around long after all of today’s video games have been discarded.