Biography of different mathematical games

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It all began in December 1956, when an article about hexaflexagons was published in Scientific American. A hexaflexagon is a hexagonal paper toy which can be folded and then opened out to reveal hidden faces. If you have never made a hexaflexagon, then you should stop reading and make one right now. Once you’ve done so, you will understand why the article led to a craze in New York; you will probably even create your own mini-craze because you will just need to show it to everyone you know.

The author of the article was, of course, Martin Gardner.

Martin Gardner was born in 1914 and grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from the University of Chicago and after four years serving in the US Navy during the Second World War, he returned to Chicago and began writing. After a few years working on children’s magazines and the occasional article for adults, Gar

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List of Martin Gardner Mathematical Games columns

dateTitle 1957 JanA new kind of magic square with remarkable properties^[2]1957 FebAn assortment of maddening puzzles^[4]1957 MarSome old and new versions of ticktacktoe1957 AprParadoxes dealing with birthdays, playing cards, coins, crows and red-haired typists 1957 MayAbout the remarkable similarity between the Icosian Game and the Tower of Hanoi1957 JunCurious figures descended from the Möbius band, which has only one side and one edge 1957 JulConcerning the game of Hex, which may be played on the tiles of the bathroom floor 1957 AugThe life and work of Sam Loyd, a mighty inventor of puzzles 1957 SepConcerning various card tricks with a mathematical message 1957 OctHow to remember numbers by mnemonic devices such as cuff links and red zebras 1957 NovNine titillating puzzles 1957 DecMore about complex dominoes1958 JanA collection of

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A Beautiful Math: John Nash, Game Theory, and the Modern Quest for a Code of Nature (2006)

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Suggested Citation:"2 Von Neumann’s Games--Game theory’s origins." Tom Siegfried. 2006. A Beautiful Math: John Nash, Game Theory, and the Modern sökande eller uppdrag for a Code of Nature. Washington, DC: namn Henry Press. doi: 10.17226/11631.

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Von Neumann’s Games
Game theory’s origins

—Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz (quoted bygd Oskar Morgenstern, Dictionary of the History of Ideas)

It’s no mystery why economics is called the dismal science.

With most sciences, experts make pretty accurate predictions. Mix two known chemicals, and a chemist can tell you ahead of time what you’ll get. Ask an astronomer when the next solar eclipse will be, and you’ll get the date, time, and best viewing locations, even if the eclipse won’t occur for decades.

But mix people with money, and you generally get madness. And no eco