Author: Ian Stewart Publisher: Courier Corporation ISBN: 0486150968 Category : Mathematics Languages : en Pages : 210
Book Description
Twelve essays take a playful approach to mathematics, investigating the topology of a blanket, the odds of beating a superior tennis player, and how to distinguish between fact and fallacy.
Author: Liz McMahon Publisher: Princeton University Press ISBN: 0691192324 Category : Games & Activities Languages : en Pages : 320
Book Description
"Have you ever played the addictive card game SET? Have you ever wondered about the connections between games and mathematics? . . . The Joy of SET takes readers on a fascinating journey into this seemingly simple card game and reveals its surprisingly deep and diverse mathematical dimensions. Absolutely no mathematical background is necessary to enjoy this book - all you need is a sense of curiosity and adventure. Originally invented in 1974 by Marsha Falco and officially released in 1991, SET has gained a widespread, loyal following. SET's eighty-one cards consist of one, two, or three symbols of different shapes (diamond, oval, squiggle), shadings (solid, striped, open), and colors (green, purple, red). In order to win, players must identify 'sets' of three cards for which each characteristic is the same - or different - on all the cards. SET's strategic and unique design opens connections to a plethora of mathematical disciplines, including geometry, modular arithmetic, combinatorics, probability, linear algebra, and computer simulations. The Joy of SET looks at these areas as well as avenues for further mathematical exploration. As the authors show, the relationship between SET and mathematics runs in both directions - playing this game has generated new mathematics, and the math has led to new questions about the game itself."--Provided by publisher.
Author: Ben Orlin Publisher: Black Dog & Leventhal ISBN: 0762499850 Category : Mathematics Languages : en Pages : 318
Book Description
Bestselling author and worst-drawing artist Ben Orlin expands his oeuvre with this interactive collection of mathematical games. With 70-plus games, each taking a minute to learn and a lifetime to master, this treasure trove will delight, educate, and entertain. From beloved math popularizer Ben Orlin comes a masterfully compiled collection of dozens of playable mathematical games.This ultimate game chest draws on mathematical curios, childhood classics, and soon-to-be classics, each hand-chosen to be (1) fun, (2) thought-provoking, and (3) easy to play. With just paper, pens, and the occasional handful of coins, you and a partner can enjoy hours of fun—and hours of challenge. Orlin’s sly humor, expansive knowledge, and so-bad-they’re-good drawings show us how simple rules summon our best thinking. Games include: Ultimate Tic-Tac-Toe Sprouts Battleship Quantum Go Fish Dots and Boxes Black Hole Order and Chaos Sequencium Paper Boxing Prophecies Arpeggios Banker Francoprussian Labyrinth Cats and Dogs And many more.
Author: Keith Devlin Publisher: CRC Press ISBN: 1439867712 Category : Computers Languages : en Pages : 220
Book Description
Stanford mathematician and NPR Math Guy Keith Devlin explains why, fun aside, video games are the ideal medium to teach middle-school math. Aimed primarily at teachers and education researchers, but also of interest to game developers who want to produce videogames for mathematics education, Mathematics Education for a New Era: Video Games as a Med
Author: Mindy Capaldi Publisher: American Mathematical Soc. ISBN: 1470462842 Category : Education Languages : en Pages : 160
Book Description
Active engagement is the key to learning. You want your students doing something that stimulates them to ask questions and creates a need to know. Teaching Mathematics Through Games presents a variety of classroom-tested exercises and activities that provoke the active learning and curiosity that you hope to promote. These games run the gamut from well-known favorites like SET and Settlers of Catan to original games involving simulating structural inequality in New York or playing Battleship with functions. The book contains activities suitable for a wide variety of college mathematics courses, including general education courses, math for elementary education, probability, calculus, linear algebra, history of math, and proof-based mathematics. Some chapter activities are short term, such as a drop-in lesson for a day, and some are longer, including semester-long projects. All have been tested, refined, and include extensive implementation notes.
Author: Ben Orlin Publisher: Black Dog & Leventhal ISBN: 0316509027 Category : Mathematics Languages : en Pages : 556
Book Description
A hilarious reeducation in mathematics-full of joy, jokes, and stick figures-that sheds light on the countless practical and wonderful ways that math structures and shapes our world. In Math With Bad Drawings, Ben Orlin reveals to us what math actually is; its myriad uses, its strange symbols, and the wild leaps of logic and faith that define the usually impenetrable work of the mathematician. Truth and knowledge come in multiple forms: colorful drawings, encouraging jokes, and the stories and insights of an empathetic teacher who believes that math should belong to everyone. Orlin shows us how to think like a mathematician by teaching us a brand-new game of tic-tac-toe, how to understand an economic crises by rolling a pair of dice, and the mathematical headache that ensues when attempting to build a spherical Death Star. Every discussion in the book is illustrated with Orlin's trademark "bad drawings," which convey his message and insights with perfect pitch and clarity. With 24 chapters covering topics from the electoral college to human genetics to the reasons not to trust statistics, Math with Bad Drawings is a life-changing book for the math-estranged and math-enamored alike.
Author: Philip D. Straffin Publisher: American Mathematical Society ISBN: 1470471965 Category : Mathematics Languages : en Pages : 256
Book Description
This book is an introduction to mathematical game theory, which might better be called the mathematical theory of conflict and cooperation. It is applicable whenever two individuals—or companies, or political parties, or nations—confront situations where the outcome for each depends on the behavior of all. What are the best strategies in such situations? If there are chances of cooperation, with whom should you cooperate, and how should you share the proceeds of cooperation? Since its creation by John von Neumann and Oskar Morgenstern in 1944, game theory has shed new light on business, politics, economics, social psychology, philosophy, and evolutionary biology. In this book, its fundamental ideas are developed with mathematics at the level of high school algebra and applied to many of these fields (see the table of contents). Ideas like “fairness” are presented via axioms that fair allocations should satisfy; thus the reader is introduced to axiomatic thinking as well as to mathematical modeling of actual situations.
Author: Ian Stewart Publisher: Courier Corporation ISBN: 048615078X Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 294
Book Description
Sixteen columns from the French edition of Scientific American feature oddball characters and wacky wordplay in a mathematical wonderland of puzzles and games that also imparts significant mathematical ideas. 1992 edition.
Author: Ian Stewart
Author: Liz McMahon
Author: Ben Orlin
Author: Keith Devlin
Author: Ruth Bell Alexander
Author: Mindy Capaldi
Author: Ben Orlin
Author: Philip D. Straffin
Author: Ian Stewart
Author: Denise Gaskins