Around the world in eighty games : from tarot to tic-tac-toe, Catan to Snakes and Ladders, a mathematician unlocks the secrets of the world's greatest games / Marcus Du Sautoy.
First Title value, for Searching:
Around the world in eighty games : from tarot to tic-tac-toe, Catan to Snakes and Ladders, a mathematician unlocks the secrets of the world's greatest games / Marcus Du Sautoy.
by:
Du Sautoy, Marcus, author.
ISBN:
9781541601284
Edition:
First edition.
Format:
Books
Physical Description:
viii, 369 pages : illustrations, maps ; 25 cm
Contents:
Opening moves -- The Middle East. Backgammon -- The royal game of Ur -- Senet -- Rolling bones -- Symmetrical dice -- The doubling cube -- The Arabian Sea: what is a game and why do we play?. Homo Ludens -- Animal games -- Language games -- The grasshopper's games -- India. Chess -- Carrom -- Ludo -- Snakes and ladders -- Ganjifa cards -- The Buddha's banned games -- Hopscotch -- The South China Sea: the math of games and the games of math. Chocolate chili roulette -- Nim -- -- The ultimatum game -- The prisoner's dilemma -- China. Go -- Chinese chess -- Pick-up sticks -- Dominoes -- Mah-jong -- Zi Pai, Khanhoo, and the origins of playing cards -- The East China Sea: cards. Whist -- Bridge -- Spades, hearts, diamonds, and clubs -- Lady Charlotte and the game of parliament -- Tarot -- Japan. Hanafuda -- Pokémon cards -- The North Pacific Ocean: the psychology of games. Dungeons & Dragons -- MangaHigh.com -- Cranium -- Australasia. Mu Torere -- The South Pacific Ocean: games in the arts. Cluedo -- Azad and The player of games -- Games and riddles -- Theater games -- Mozart's dice game -- South and Central America. Mexican bingo -- Jogo do Bicho -- Adugo and Komikan -- Sapo -- Truco -- Perudo or Dudo or Liar's dice -- Pitz, the Mayan ball game -- The United States. The casino -- The mansion of happiness -- Monopoly -- Scrabble -- Wordle -- Rock, paper, scissors -- Ticket to ride -- The Atlantic Ocean: computer games. Prince of Persia -- Spacewar! -- Tetris -- The game of life -- Tic-tac-toe or noughts and crosses -- Africa. Mancala -- Gulugufe and fanorona -- Achi -- Bolotoudou -- Nine men's Morris -- Agram -- Europe. Spiel des Jahres -- Pandemic -- The best board game ever -- Ludus Latrunculorum -- Risk -- L'attaque and women in the gaming industry -- Pipopipette or Dots or Boxes -- Dobble -- SET -- Mornington crescent and nongames -- Infinite games -- The glass bead game -- Endgame.
Abstract:
"Do you know where you should always move first in Tic Tac Toe? Understand the betting cube in backgammon? Want to know the best property in Monopoly? Did you know that the African game Mancala might have led one of its players to make an early approximation of the number pi? Or that the nigh-magical Golden Ratio can help you win at Rock Paper Scissors? Around the World in Eighty Games is a gleeful exploration of games and math, spanning centuries and millennia, oceans and continents, countries and cultures. Renowned mathematician Marcus du Sautoy shows how mathematics and games have always been deeply intertwined: how games provided some of the first opportunities for deep mathematical insight into the universe; how understanding math can help us play games better; and how the knowledge and enjoyment of both math and games are integral to human psychology and cultures. But du Sautoy doesn't just look at the games we play; he asks why we play them. For as long as there has been human culture, there have been games. If you look, you can find 12,000-year-old dice, game boards carved in church pews and chiseled into the stones of temples, monuments, and tombs. And for nearly as long, humans have been exploring and discovering mathematics. Taken together, math and games tell us the story of ourselves"-- Provided by publisher.
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