The book by the French mathematician Professor François Luc (1842–1891) explains how arithmetic, geometry and algebra can be used in solving various kinds of problems, teaches how to spend your leisure time with benefit for the mind and partly complements “Scientific Amusements” by Gaston Tissandier, already published in this series. The book examines in detail such classic mathematical games as Solitaire, Meleda and Takean. The author, a famous mathematician, was the first to describe the properties of numbers that were later named after him - Lucas numbers. He also paid a lot of attention to the popularization of mathematical knowledge and came up with a number of interesting problems, including the famous Tower of Hanoi puzzle.