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Math Horizons Contents—April 2017

What to do during the dreary April showers? Pick up the latest issue of Math Horizons!

In 2016 the MAA formed a relationship with the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Near the end of the year Math Horizons interviewed President Obama's chief data officer D. J. Patil. Read about his efforts to use data for good. The timing of our cover story on nontransitive dice is perfect—read it and the two articles on nontransitive dice in the most recent College Mathematics Journal. Also timely: Read about how game theory explains Uber's exit from Austin, Texas, and Britain's exit from the European Union. Whether or not you are a fan of Game of Thrones, you'll be a fan of the parody piece in this issue in which the queen regent breaks out the "game of stones" to punish 100 knights.

Do you play the card game SET? Of course you do, and you will enjoy the SET mini-theme in this issue. We have SET puzzles to work on, a review of The Joy of SET, and an explanation of how a recent result in pure mathematics connects to SET.

Enjoy these articles and more in the April issue of Math Horizons. —David Richeson, Editor

Volume 24, Issue 4

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Supplements

Such supplemental information as solutions for contests, contest winners, editorials, and other reader responses to Math Horizons articles is available here.

Articles

Game, SET, Math

p. 2.
David Richeson presents two SET puzzles.
To purchase the article from JSTOR: http://dx.doi.org/10.4169/mathhorizons.24.4.2

Game of Stones: A Tour of Knights

p. 5.
Will a clever algorithm foil the queen regent's plan to kill 100 knights? Dan Kalman and Dan Pritikin
To purchase the article from JSTOR: http://dx.doi.org/10.4169/mathhorizons.24.4.5

Thinking Backwards: Strength through Weakness

p. 10.
Jim Wiseman and Tom Wiseman provide a game theoretical look at Uber's departure from Austin, Texas, and Britain's exit from the European Union.

To purchase the article from JSTOR: http://dx.doi.org/10.4169/mathhorizons.24.4.10

What Nontransitive Dice Exist among Us?

p. 14.
Ward Heilman and Nicholas Pasciuto introduce more dice that behave like rock-paper-scissors.
To purchase the article from JSTOR: http://dx.doi.org/10.4169/mathhorizons.24.4.14

Data for Good: Tracking Trillion-Dollar Problems

p. 18.
Tim Chartier interviews D. J. Patil, chief data scientist under President Obama.

To purchase the article from JSTOR: http://dx.doi.org/10.4169/mathhorizons.24.4.18
Download free PDF here.

Transcendental Numbers in Wonderland

p. 22.
It is surprisingly difficult to find these plentiful numbers. Eisuke Chikayama and Shori Chikayama

To purchase the article from JSTOR: http://dx.doi.org/10.4169/mathhorizons.24.4.22

Bettering Cap Set Bounds

p. 24.
Sophia D. Merow presents a connection between a recent advance in pure mathematics and the game SET.

To purchase the article from JSTOR: http://dx.doi.org/10.4169/mathhorizons.24.4.24

Math the Russian Way: The Math in Moscow Program

p. 26.
Matthew Gerhard raves about his mathematical study abroad experience in Moscow.

To purchase the article from JSTOR: http://dx.doi.org/10.4169/mathhorizons.24.4.26

THE BOOKSHELF

p. 28.
Robert W. Vallin reviews The Joy of SET: The Many Mathematical Dimensions of a Seemingly Simple Card Game, by Liz McMahon, Gary Gordon, Hannah Gordon, and Rebecca Gordon;
Katherine Thompson reviews Summing It Up: From One Plus One to Modern Number Theory, by Avner Ash and Robert Gross.
To purchase the article from JSTOR: http://dx.doi.org/10.4169/mathhorizons.24.4.28

THE PLAYGROUND!

p. 30.
The Math Horizons problem section, edited by Gary Gordon
To purchase the article from JSTOR: http://dx.doi.org/10.4169/mathhorizons.24.4.30

AFTERMATH

Don't Skip the Code

p. 34.
Mathematics students should harness the synergy between mathematics and computer science. Nathan Carter
To purchase the article from JSTOR: http://dx.doi.org/10.4169/mathhorizons.24.3.34

To read the article on the MAA blog: http://horizonsaftermath.blogspot.com/