Around the World in 80 Games: A mathematician unlocks the secrets of the greatest games - Softcover

Du Sautoy, Marcus

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0008525927 ISBN 13: 9780008525927

Publisher: Fourth Estate, 2023

Synopsis

'BRILLIANTLY CLEAR AND CAPTIVATING PROSE' STEPHEN FRY

A WATERSTONES BOOK OF YEAR 2023

An award-winning mathematician explores the maths behind the games we love and why we love to play them.

Where should you move first in Connect 4?

Which property is best in Monopoly?

How can pi help you win Rock Paper Scissors?

Crossing oceans, continents and millennia, award-winning mathematician Marcus du Sautoy explores how maths and games have always been deeply intertwined. As well as being integral to human psychology and culture throughout the ages, games provided the first opportunities for deep mathematical insight into the world. This grand adventure teaches us how to strategise, play better and win more often.

‘The subject matter is fun (I mean, isn’t it quite literally the definition of fun?) and du Sautoy’s enthusiasm is infectious’ THE SUNDAY TIMES

'A delightful and addictive celebration of games. You’ll keep wanting one more go' DARA Ó BRIAIN, author of Is There Anybody Out There?

‘Lively, creative and humane – exactly as one would expect from Marcus du Sautoy’ TIM HARFORD, author of How To Make The World Add Up

‘You do not need to be a seasoned player nor a skilled mathematician to relish this enchanting read. However, this book may just encourage you to become the one or the other’ REINER KNIZIA, award-winning game designer

About this title

About the Author

Marcus du Sautoy has been named by the Independent on Sunday as one of the UK's leading scientists, has written extensively for the Guardian, The Times and the Daily Telegraph and has appeared on Radio 4 on numerous occasions. In 2008 he was appointed to Oxford University’s prestigious professorship as the Simonyi Chair for the Public Understanding of Science, a post previously held by Richard Dawkins.

From the Back Cover

Where should you move first in Connect 4?
What is the best property in Monopoly?
And how can pi help you win rock paper scissors?

Spanning millennia, oceans and continents, countries and cultures, Around the World in 80 Games gleefully explores how mathematics and games have always been deeply intertwined. Marcus du Sautoy investigates how games provided the first opportunities for deep mathematical insight into the world, how understanding maths can help us play games better, and how both maths and games are integral to human psychology and culture.

For as long as there have been people, there have been games, and for nearly as long, we have been exploring and discovering mathematics. A grand adventure, Around the World in 80 Games teaches us not just how games are won, but how they, and the maths behind them, shape who we are.

Edition details

• Publisher: Fourth Estate
• Publication date: 2023
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0008525927
• ISBN 13: 9780008525927
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 384