Winning Ways: For Your Mathematical Plays, Volume 1: Games in General

Winning Ways for Your Mathematical Plays #2nd edition, volume 1

by Elwyn R. Berlekamp

....examines games played in clubs...giving case studies for coin and paper-and-pencil games.

Genres: Mathematics, Science, Nonfiction, Games

Hardcover

First published February 1, 1982

About the author

Elwyn Ralph Berlekamp was a professor emeritus of mathematics and Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of California, Berkeley. He was known for his work in information theory and combinatorial game theory.

Reviews

[Yasiru]

It might be a rare thing for the inventor(s) of a theory to also be first-rate expositors, but such is surely the case here. I ended up using a more brute-force AI game theory approach for what I picked this up for, but I ended up reading most of this volume anyway. Hope to purchase the full set.

More resources:

https://www.coursera.org/course/cgt

http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/special-pr...

There's also a very gentle course on 'The Great Courses' called 'Mathematics of Games and Puzzles' that should interest a total beginner.

http://www.ams.org/samplings/feature-...


http://web.engr.illinois.edu/~jeffe/m... (May need to use the Way Back Machine to get at some of the links.)

[Gard]

Beautiful book in the intersection pf maths and humor

[Deniz]

Wirklich P Buch brauche nächste

[Phil Scovis]

The "spade" suit is appropriate on the spine of volume 1. This book is a lot of work, as it lays the mathematical foundations for volumes 2, 3, and 4. It is made more enjoyable by the elaborate word-play and droll hand-drawn illustrations. I think the authors had a lot of fun writing this book.

[Griffin Pinney]

I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, this book opens up an entire universe of math which I was more or less completely unaware of, and that's exciting. On the other hand, this math is presented in such an absurd, whimsical way that it's jarring to my good mathematical senses. I know the subject matter is inherently playful, but we shouldn't forget that math is "the queen of the sciences", and I think we should still try to take ourselves somewhat seriously when engaging with this subject, or at the very least we should avoid labelling our objects of interest with some of the most ridiculous names ever dreamt up. I know combinatorial game theory has a more serious treatment in other books, and I intentionally chose this book as a starting point for its more gentle nature, but I hope those more serious treatments have found better names for some of the concepts in this field.

Note to self: the last few chapters went largely over my head, so if I ever want to learn some more combinatorial game theory, I should be aware of the parts of this book that I didn't understand and be prepared to fill those gaps.

[Jordan]

As of time of reviewing worked through half of this volume & conversed with professor on it weekly. For readers unfamiliar with the literature Conway’s game-evaluative notation may be difficult to pick up, because he explains it many chapters after he actually introduces it. Following along the games can be fun but is a little tedious. Maybe I am simply too dull to synthesize distant connections but there are not a lot of interesting mathematical ideas in this book besides the construction of the surreals & the principle of simplicity motivating turn advantage evaluation.

[Tavo]

If you have any interest in game theory at all this is a must read. The most amazing feature of this book is the authors' ability to explain the topic at hand that basically no experience in mathematics besides the ability to add and subtract is even needed going in. John Conway also brings a great amount of charm and humor to the work, not something you expect to see that often in math textbooks.

[Deryk Rumbold]

Essential Math text in my opinion. Not only is it enriching in mathematical thought but it also has enough self awareness to approach the subject with a sense of playfulness. One of the best examples I have seen to dance with the idea that math notation is not born out of objective truth but out of subjective necessity.

[Elliott]

Probably the most unusual math book I've ever read. I found it fascinating and whimsical, but the notation certainly is not for the faint-hearted. I learned a lot in the early chapters, but the later ones felt like deciphering hieroglyphics.

[Javi]

Me cambió la vida