Henry Ernest Dudeney

    Henry Ernest Dudeney taught himself mathematics and astronomy. From the age of nine he was composing problems and puzzles which he published in a local paper.

    One of the most famous of his geometrical puzzles is the 'haberdasher's problem' which asks how one can cut an equilateral triangle into four pieces that can be reassembled to form a square.

The fact is that our lives are largely spent in solving puzzles; for what is a puzzle but a perplexing question? And from our childhood upwards we are perpetually asking questions or trying to answer them. - Henry Ernest Dudeney