You are here

Math Horizons Contents—April 2015

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.