Games are extra fun for math lovers. We can play them, we can study them, and we can make them. In this issue of Math Horizons Pamela Pierce and Robert Wooster use Markov chains to decide when to attack in Risk. Burkard Polster analyzes the card game Spot It! and uses mathematics create variations of this game. Darren Glass writes about the math in an NPR quiz program. ZenZen (a KenKen game using modular arithmetic) and Spirograph also make an appearance. Read about these games and more in this issue of Math Horizons. —Dave Richeson
Articles
ZenZen
Thomas Q. Sibley
A pencil-and-paper game using modular arithmetic.
Life Lessons from Leibniz
Andrew J. Simoson
Andrew J. Simoson shares advice gleaned from the life of Gottfried Leibniz.
The Intersection Game
Burkard Polster
Burkard Polster creates variations of the card game Spot It! (pdf)
Remembering F. O. Vechs
Ann Dalmak
A eulogy for a mathematician born on April 1, 1915.
The Math Mr. Men
Ed Southall
Ed Southall transforms Mr. Men book covers with mathematical themes.
What Were They Thinking? A Look at Life in 1915
Deanna Haunsperger and Pamela Richardson
What was life like for a math student the year the MAA was founded?
The Bookshelf
Brie Finegold reviews Math Bytes, by Tim Chartier
The View From Here
How School Cheats Us
Daniel W. Farlow
Daniel W. Farlow reflects on Paul Lockhart’s book A Mathematician’s Lament.
Conquer the World with Markov Chains
Pamela Pierce and Robert Wooster
Use mathematics to plan attacks in the game of Risk.
The Spirograph & Mathematical Models from 19th-Century Germany
Amy Shell-Gellasch
Amy Shell-Gellasch shares some mathematical treasures from the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.
Findin’ Extrema Local
Larry Lesser
A mathematical reworking of "Livin' La Vida Loca."
Math Quiz on the Radio
Darren Glass
An NPR quiz program brings mathematics to work.
The Playground
The Math Horizons problem section, edited by Gary Gordon
Aftermath: History Helps Math Make Sense
Daniel E. Otero
Studying the history of mathematics has surprising benefits.