Day 35: Heart of Mathematics

• Last time: Feeling Edgy. The Euler Characteristic, and proving that there are only five Platonic solids.

• Today:
  • What did you think of the gallery in section 6.1? Mathematics or Art?

  • Why are simple rules that result in complex phenomena important?

  • What is the essential buzzword of the models in section 6.2?

  • The game of life: played on an infinite checkerboard. The rules are:
    1. A living square will remain alive in the next generation if exactly two or three of the adjoining eight squares are alive in this generation; otherwise, it will die.
    2. A dead square will come to life if exactly three of its adjoining eight squares are alive; otherwise, it will remain dead.
    • Book examples
    • I.7: Game of Life
    • I.8: Game of Life

  • Other problems for the section:
    • I.3: Double your money
    • II.2: Fibonacci
    • II.3: Fibonacci again

• Next time: the beauty of Fractals

Links:

• http://www.bitstorm.org/gameoflife/
• http://www.math.com/students/wonders/life/life.html