A “fun” and “unexpected” (
The Economist
) global tour of the world’s greatest games and the mathematics that underlies them
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 Eighty Games
gleefully explores how mathematics and games have always been deeply intertwined. Renowned mathematician Marcus du Sautoy investigates how games provided the first opportunities for deep mathematical insight into the world, how understanding math can help us play games better, and how both math 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,
teaches us not just how games are won, but how they, and their math, shape who we are.