Once I had obtained the Russian-language translation of Recreational Problems in Geometric Dissections & How to Solve Them,
I optimistically decided to look for book reviews that would have appeared in the Soviet Union.
When I couldn't find anything by searching through a Russian index of reviews of scientific literature,
I took a stab and searched the web for the name of the translator Yu. N. Sudarev
(Ю. Н. Сударев),
whose full name was, I believe, Yuriy Nikolayevich Sudarev.
I discovered that Sudarev had translated (at least) two other books of mathematical recreations,
published in Moscow by the same publisher, namely Mir (Мир):
- Five Hundred and Twenty Puzzles
( Пятьсот
двадцать
головоломок),
by Henry E. Dudeney
(Генри Э.
Дьюдени), edited by Martin Gardner
(М. Гарднер),
Mir, Moscow, 1975.
(Apparently this was a translation by Sudarev of 536 Puzzles and Curious Problems, by Henry E. Dudeney, edited by Martin Gardner, published by Scribner in 1967.)
- The Canterbury Puzzles
(Кентерберийские
головоломки)
by Henry E. Dudeney
(Генри Э.
Дьюдени),
Mir, Moscow, 1979.
Thus Sudarev's 1977 translation of Recreational Problems in Geometric Dissections & How to Solve Them
was bookended by his translations of two classics by Henry E. Dudeney!
In regard to the 1975 translation, I would note that (of course) 520 is not equal to 536.
Why the disparity? I took a look at the original English-language version of the book,
and found that in the index there were four puzzles that involved a swastika.
Perhaps those four puzzles were removed for the same reason that six dissections had been removed during the 1977 translation of Recreational Problems of Geometric Dissections.
But there would still be twelve puzzles that had been removed!
I guess that I need to examine a copy of the 1975 Russian-language translation
to properly resolve this puzzle!
As I have recently learned, our translator Sudarev has actually been a professor
in physico-mathematical sciences at Moscow State University since 1974, and is still there!
So thanks, Professor Sudarev!
I would also like to thank Ms. Tatiana Kuznetsova,
who has corrected my mistakes with respect to the Cyrilic alphabet, Russian names,
and the Moscow State University.
Last updated August 17, 2018.