Andrew Bremner called the book "a delight" and opined that readers of
Martin Gardner would appreciate it. A. Robert Pargeter found it "fascinating" both for systematic reading and for browsing, and he recommended that school and college libraries carry it. Sarah Gourlie called the book "organized and enlightening", while observing that some topics were considerably more demanding than others. Likewise, reviewing the book for the Mathematical Association of America, Allen Stenger noted that while the book only presumed knowledge of high-school
algebra and
trigonometry, it also in places demanded a "high level of mathematical reasoning". Stenger expected that many readers would be unable to follow all of the explanations unaided. A retrospective by
Ezra Brown also commented on the "more than a little sophistication" required to follow some of Conway and Guy's discussions, while finding that the authors' joy "comes through on every page". The
MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive quotes a review of this book in its biography of Conway, saying that "the publishers should have been required to post a warning label on the front cover indicating that this book contains extremely addictive material." ==References==