Books
Why Do Buses Come In Threes?
Rob Eastaway and Jeremy Wyndham
Foreword by Tim Rice
Published by Robson Books in the UK (1998) and John Wiley in the USA (1999), with the latest editions in 2005 in both UK and USA
Chapters include:
What's the best bet?
How do you keep a secret?
Why are showers too hot or too cold?
Behind the scenes:
The book gained widespread publicity after The Daily Mail devoted a page to it. John Wiley USA bought the rights and, despite the rarity of buses in the States, kept the title. At one point it reached number 23 in the Amazon.co.uk best-sellers
You can order this book on-line from Amazon
What Is A Googly?
Rob Eastaway
Published by Robson Books in 1992, reprinted and revised several times, with a new edition in 2005
Chapters include:
How can you spend five days and still draw?
Why do they rub the ball on their trousers?
How do you know when to clap?
Behind the scenes:
The book has sold well, helped by a fantastic review from Jonathan Agnew on BBC Test Match Special. John Major presented a copy to President George Bush (Senior). The US rights were bought by St Martin's Press who published it under the revised title of "Cricket Explained". The day after the 2005 Ashes victory, it reached No.4 in the Amazon rankings - well, for one hour at least. I know, I checked
You can order this book on-line from Amazon
How Long Is A Piece Of String?
Rob Eastaway and Jeremy Wyndham
Published by Robson Books in 2002 with a new edition in 2005
Chapters include:
Should I phone a friend?
Why won't the case fit in the boot?
Why do karaoke singers sound so bad?
Behind the scenes:
The sequel to "Why do Buses Come in Threes?". The Daily Mail bought the serial rights but sadly never ran the feature because the 2002 World Cup filled the pages. New Scientist said "it is rare for a book about mathematics to be as engaging as this", but that was pretty well the only review it got. Still, it's been reprinted several times, and bizarrely the lift chapter featured in two different Radio 4 series, one presented by Evan Davis and the other by Lynn Truss
You can order this book on-line from Amazon
How To Remember Almost Everything Ever
Rob Eastaway
Published by Wizard Books in 2007
This is a brand new edition of "The Memory Kit", with new illustrations, updated text, and the original kit material now combined into a single book. Although aimed at children aged 8-12, it's the kind of book that adults enjoy too. There are explanations of how memory works, experiments and techniques to test out, and a section on mnemonics at the back
Behind the scenes:
The original book was published by Element, and sold about 50,000 copies, mainly in the USA. Unfortunately, just after it was published Element went bust, so there were no royalties and the book was discontinued before it appeared in the UK. (Sniff.) Well, anyway, the new book is a much better design, and has attracted far more interest - including from Simon Mayo's show on BBC 5 Live
You can order this book on-line from Amazon
Beating The Odds
Rob Eastaway and John Haigh
Published by Robson Books, 2007
This dip-in book talks about a host of ways, serious and light-hearted, in which maths touches sport, from the tactics of a tennis server to the best place to aim a dart if you are an average pub player. There are a few sport puzzles thrown in. This is as much a book for sports fans as it is for those who like maths
Behind the scenes:
The book came out in hardback as How To Take A Penalty, but the title was misleading and unpopular. The paperback with the new title came out in August 2007. BBC London radio devoted nearly an hour to it on their Sunday afternoon sports programme
You can order this book on-line from Amazon
OUT OF THE BOX
Rob Eastaway
Published by Duncan Baird in the UK and the USA in 2007
This is a small, nicely designed book with tips on how to think creatively. It draws heavily on material that I have developed for workshops over the years, and is aimed at anyone looking for tips to get out of a rut and be more creative
Behind the scenes:
I'd been thinking about writing a book about creative thinking for years, but couldn't think of an original title, or of a satisfactory way of structuring the content. Then the publishers Duncan Baird approached me; they had a title and structure and wanted content. Sometimes it's much easier to create when others provide you with constraints!
You can order this book on-line from Amazon
Mindbenders and Brainteasers
David Wells and Rob Eastaway
Published by Robson Books in 2003 with a new edition in 2005
A collection of just over 100 assorted puzzles, ranging from the short "aha" type to some that require serious paper and pencil work. Suitable for age 10 to adult. A small number of old favourites, but a lot that you won't have seen before
Behind the scenes:
This book is a combination of the 'best of' the Guinness Mindbenders and Brainteasers books, with a few enhancements and corrections thrown in. The quality control on this book was much better than for the Guinness versions. David Wells contributed over half of the collection
You can order this book on-line from Amazon
How To Remember
Rob Eastaway
Published by Hodder and Stoughton, 2004
Do you suffer from 'tip-of-the-tongue' moments? Do you forget names, birthdays and the like? Join the club!
This is a practical book about memory, why it goes wrong, and how to improve it and live with its faults. It includes many real-life examples of frustrating memory lapses and the pragmatic and amusing approaches that people use to overcome them
Behind the scenes:
I needed some persuading to write this book because I never saw myself as a 'self-help' author, but it proved to be a fascinating project. The Daily Telegraph devoted half a page to the book, and the numbers chapter featured on Radio 4's More or Less. I reluctantly turned down an invitation to appear on GMTV. Live TV and me just don't mix
You can order this book on-line from Amazon
The Guinness Book Of Mindbenders
Rob Eastaway and David Wells
Published by Guinness in 1995
Behind the scenes:
On his London Talk Radio chat show, Simon Bates confessed to his listeners (with some annoyance) that he and his production team had only been able to solve one of the puzzles in the book. At the end of the interview he handed over his copy to Scottish rock star "Fish" who had claimed he was a big puzzle fan
Guinness managed to sell the rights for a Japanese edition, which was quite an achievement considering half the puzzles are dependent on quirks of the English language!
The original version of "Mindbenders" is now out of print, but the better puzzles in this book were merged with David Wells' "Brainteasers" to form "Mindbenders and Brainteasers" (see above)
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