u3a

Eastwood & District

Monthly Meeting - Peter Rowlett, Board Games

Games and their analysis: from prehistory to today

Event type: Monthly Meeting
Date: Wed Jul 1st
Time: 10:00 am - 12:00 pm
Venue: St Mary's Church

Board Games and their analysis: from prehistory to today

The history of games is long and rich. As a universal activity, the origins are lost in the mists of time, though we have board games that are thousands of years old. Games such as chess, Ludo and Snakes and Ladders all have their ancient predecessors and we will trace some of these stories. This talk offers a mathematician's perspective on these developments, and explores different types of games and how we can use maths to explore gameplay.

Peter Rowlett has been a mathematics lecturer at Sheffield Hallam University since 2015, teaching a range of topics to students of mathematics and computing. His public engagement work has included appearances on BBC Radio and a column 'Mathematics of Life' in New Scientist. He has written puzzles for The Sunday Times, The Guardian and New Scientist. He teaches a university module on 'game theory and recreational mathematics' and has delivered games-based maths sessions for school pupils from age 8-18.