Comments on: Winning and losing at Nim http://joningram.org/blog/2008/08/winning-and-losing-at-nim/ Maths, teaching and beyond. Thu, 11 Mar 2010 22:24:43 -0800 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Jan M. Rasmussen http://joningram.org/blog/2008/08/winning-and-losing-at-nim/comment-page-1/#comment-695 Jan M. Rasmussen Wed, 22 Apr 2009 06:54:54 +0000 http://joningram.org/?p=52#comment-695 I have written about the theory of impartial games, and Nim in particular, on my blog, http://sputsoft.com/?p=58. I have written about the theory of impartial games, and Nim in particular, on my blog, http://sputsoft.com/?p=58.

]]> By: Maths: The Final Frontier » Blog Archive » More on Nim: The 123 game network http://joningram.org/blog/2008/08/winning-and-losing-at-nim/comment-page-1/#comment-599 Maths: The Final Frontier » Blog Archive » More on Nim: The 123 game network Fri, 20 Feb 2009 13:01:27 +0000 http://joningram.org/?p=52#comment-599 [...] while back, I wrote an introduction to the game of Nim. If you can’t remember the rules, then go remind [...] [...] while back, I wrote an introduction to the game of Nim. If you can’t remember the rules, then go remind [...]

]]> By: It’s the Thought that Counts » Blog Archive » Carnival of Mathematics #38 http://joningram.org/blog/2008/08/winning-and-losing-at-nim/comment-page-1/#comment-46 It’s the Thought that Counts » Blog Archive » Carnival of Mathematics #38 Tue, 12 Aug 2008 02:49:04 +0000 http://joningram.org/?p=52#comment-46 [...] — you should go and check it out! Of particular interest to me was Jon Ingram’s post on winning and losing at Nim. Nim is a very simple game, but there are a lot of really interesting results associated with it, [...] [...] — you should go and check it out! Of particular interest to me was Jon Ingram’s post on winning and losing at Nim. Nim is a very simple game, but there are a lot of really interesting results associated with it, [...]

]]> By: Jon Ingram http://joningram.org/blog/2008/08/winning-and-losing-at-nim/comment-page-1/#comment-35 Jon Ingram Wed, 06 Aug 2008 14:10:34 +0000 http://joningram.org/?p=52#comment-35 I didn't want to give a complete course on combinatorial game theory in this post, I just wanted to show the pretty picture I made :). But it's true that it's hard to find a simple explanation of why nim-addition is equivalent to finding the bitwise xor of two numbers... at least, hard to find an explanation which doesn't require a high level of mathematical maturity. I'd love to find an explanation which is suitable for the average A-level student... but these days few students know about binary numbers and binary arithmetic, so that would have to introduced first. Oh for the days of New Math when all students knew about binary before percentages! I didn’t want to give a complete course on combinatorial game theory in this post, I just wanted to show the pretty picture I made :).

But it’s true that it’s hard to find a simple explanation of why nim-addition is equivalent to finding the bitwise xor of two numbers… at least, hard to find an explanation which doesn’t require a high level of mathematical maturity. I’d love to find an explanation which is suitable for the average A-level student… but these days few students know about binary numbers and binary arithmetic, so that would have to introduced first. Oh for the days of New Math when all students knew about binary before percentages!

]]> By: Jack http://joningram.org/blog/2008/08/winning-and-losing-at-nim/comment-page-1/#comment-34 Jack Wed, 06 Aug 2008 13:53:54 +0000 http://joningram.org/?p=52#comment-34 "<em>Explaining <strong>why</strong> this is true is quite difficult</em>" Scribling in your margins, Jon? “Explaining why this is true is quite difficult”

Scribling in your margins, Jon?

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