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Iconic American mathematician, logician and puzzle-maker Raymond Smullyan has died at the age of 97.
News of his death was announced by his step-niece Alison Fleming, who said: "Uncle Raymond Smullyan died yesterday at 97 years of age. He was a brilliant logician (What is the Name of this Book?), mathematician, musician, and magician and challenged one's intellect in all his domains."
Smullyan was born in New York and showed an aptitude for maths and music from a young age. While his musical talents were catered to, his interest in science was not. As the school he was attending did not offer the maths courses he wanted, he left to study alone.
He went on to attend several different colleges, gaining his PhD from Princeton University in 1959. As well as studying maths and composing chess problems and puzzles, he also learned how to do magic tricks – becoming an accomplished magician.
Over his career, he wrote numerous research articles on mathematical logic, set theory and Eastern philosophy, while also publishing famous logic puzzles such as 'Lady or Tiger':