While reading a French mathematical work I happened to come across, the
following statement: "A very remarkable magic square of 8, in two
degrees, has been constructed by M. Pfeffermann. In other words, he has
managed to dispose the sixty-four first numbers on the squares of a
chessboard in such a way that the sum of the numbers in every line,
every column, and in each of the two diagonals, shall be the same; and
more, that if one substitutes for all the numbers their squares, the
square still remains magic." I at once set to work to solve this
problem, and, although it proved a very hard nut, one was rewarded by
the discovery of some curious and beautiful laws that govern it. The
reader may like to try his hand at the puzzle.