Synopses & Reviews
"Mind-exercising and thought-provoking."
New ScientistIf playing games is natural for humans, analyzing games is equally natural for mathematicians. Even the simplest of games involves the fundamentals of mathematics, such as figuring out the best move or the odds of a certain chance event. This entertaining and wide-ranging guide demonstrates how simple mathematical analysis can throw unexpected light on games of every typegames of chance, games of skill, games of chance and skill, and automatic games.
Just how random is a card shuffle or a throw of the dice? Is bluffing a valid poker strategy? How can you tell if a puzzle is unsolvable? How large a role does luck play in games like golf and soccer? This book examines each of these issues and many others, along with the general principles behind such classic puzzles as peg solitaire and Rubik's cube. Lucid, instructive, and full of surprises, it will fascinate mathematicians and gamesters alike.
Synopsis
Lucid, instructive, and full of surprises, this book examines how simple mathematical analysis can throw unexpected light on games of every type, from poker to golf to the Rubik's cube. 1989 edition.
Synopsis
Lucid, instructive, and full of surprises, this book examines how simple mathematical analysis can throw unexpected light on games of every type, from poker to golf to the Rubik's cube. 1989 edition.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. The luck of the deal
3. The luck of the die
4. To err is human
5. If A beats B, and B beats C...
6. Bluff and double bluff
7. The analysis of puzzles
8. Sauce for the gander
9. The measure of a game
10. When the counting has to stop
11. Round and round in circles
Further reading
Index