Robert B. Banks (1922-2002) was the author of Towing Icebergs, Falling Dominoes, and Other Adventures in Applied Mathematics (Princeton). He was professor of engineering at Northwestern University and dean of engineering at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Banks turns trivial questions into mind-expanding demonstrations of the magical powers of mathematics. Nor does he restrict himself to trivial questions: his shrewd analyses coax secrets out of such weighty topics as global population growth and the melting of polar ice caps. . . . Not a math textbook which teaches readers how to solve set types of problems, this collection of puzzles does something far more important: it teaches us how to delight in unexpected challenges to our numerical imagination. --Booklist [Banks displays] a playful imagination and love of the fantastic that one would not ordinarily associate with a mathematical engineer. . . . Banks's style is entertaining but never condescending. --The Christian Science Monitor