MathFiction: Child's Play (Isaac Asimov)

a list compiled by Alex Kasman (College of Charleston)

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Child's Play (1986)

Isaac Asimov
(click on names to see more mathematical fiction by the same author)
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Contributed by "William E. Emba"

Young Griswold uses something he just learned in elementary school math class to solve a minor stumper. (Be warned: the problem has a minor bug. Change "mix" to "nix".)

Published in the January 1986 issue of Ellery Queen Magazine.

(See also 1 to 999 and Ten, two other Griswold stories. Each of these "stories" is really more of a puzzle whose solution is found through some non-mathematical aspects of mathematical notation. A third Griswold story, Getting the Combination is noticeably more mathematical.)

(Note: This is just one work of mathematical fiction from the list. To see the entire list or to see more works of mathematical fiction, return to the Homepage.)

Works Similar to Child's Play

According to my `secret formula', the following works of mathematical fiction are similar to this one:

Ten by Isaac Asimov
1 to 999 by Isaac Asimov
The Math Code by Alex Kasman
The Zero Clue by Rex Stout
Getting the Combination by Isaac Asimov
Sixty Million Trillion Combinations by Isaac Asimov
Go, Little Book by Isaac Asimov
Mirror Image by Isaac Asimov
The Ultimate Crime by Isaac Asimov
The Mathematicians of Grizzly Drive by Josef Skvorecky

Ratings for Child's Play:

Ratings

Have you seen/read this work of mathematical fiction? Then click here to enter your own votes on its mathematical content and literary quality or send me comments to post on this Webpage.

Mathematical Content:
2.5/5 (2 votes)

Literary Quality:
2/5 (2 votes)

Categories:

Genre	Mystery,
Motif
Topic	Algebra/Arithmetic/Number Theory,
Medium	Short Stories,

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Where are the new works of mathematical fiction?: As you can see from this chronological listing, this database includes many works of mathematical fiction for each year from 1990 to 2025. Strangely, only two are listed for 2026, so far. Either less mathematical fiction is being published than in previous years or I'm just having more trouble finding it. If you know of any works of fiction that should be added to this list, especially recently published ones, please let me know. (Keep in mind that I do not include self-published works or children's fiction that just covers elementary mathematical concepts.) Thanks!

(Maintained by Alex Kasman, College of Charleston)