MENSA PRETORIA SPEAKER EVENING - AUGUST 2016

Puzzles and puzzle-solving techniques.


Sherlock Holmes, Inspector Clouseau, the rubix cube, poker tricks mysterious disappearances. Some puzzles are for amusement, some are for entertainment. A puzzle could be solved to dazzle friends or even an audience. What can not be seen is infused by the assumed and you might be bamboozled. Other times a puzzle occurs in the legal field and could be the difference between life or death. Yet further the puzzle could be determining the real cause of a death. Whatever the case, all puzzles hinges on the declared challenge: "Solve me, if you can !" 

Dr. Ryan Blumenthal



Dr Ryan Blumenthal is a Senior Specialist Forensic Pathologist at the University of Pretoria’s Department of Forensic Medicine. His chief field of interest is the pathology of trauma of lightning (keraunopathology). He has been involved in the publication of numerous articles and textbooks on lightning and electrothermal injuries and has helped generate international standard operating procedures and guidelines for lightning strike fatality and electrocution victims. He has published widely in the fields of suicide and other areas involving the pathology of trauma.





The author pushing a needle through a copper block in a matchbox





Today however Ryan wore another hat - most literally - and showed us the magic of puzzles.







Beverley and Kolver with Ryan's signature illusion.
Pretoria Chapter - ready for magic !!