by Pradeep Mutalik
From Quanta Magazine, October 15, 2020.
Have fun exploring a numerical puzzle, a geometric puzzle and a game of random patterns, all inspired by the playful genius of the legendary mathematician.
The legendary mathematician John Horton Conway, who died in April of COVID-19, took a childlike delight in inventing puzzles and games. He performed detailed analyses of many puzzles, such as the Soma cube, peg solitaire and Conway's soldiers. He invented the "Doomsday algorithm" (a fast method of calculating the day of the week in your head - Conway could do it in under two seconds) and countless games, including Sprouts and the famous Game of Life, which launched the study of cellular automata.
A great deal of Conway's serious mathematical work also arose from his penchant for playing mathematical games. He made original contributions to group theory (the Leech lattice, monstrous moonshine), higher-dimensional geometry, tessellations, knot theory, number theory (surreal numbers), algebra, mathematical logic and analysis.
This month, we celebrate the playful genius of the famous British mathematician with two puzzles and an exploratory game. First, we'll play around with a numerical puzzle Conway invented that is perfection itself. Then we'll enjoy a geometric puzzle that relates to some of his most visually pleasing work. Finally, we'll immerse ourselves in an open-ended game contributed by a Quanta reader that resembles Conway's iconic Game of Life.
https://www.quantamagazine.org/three-math-puzzles-inspired-by-john-horton-conway-20201015/?utm_source=Quanta+M