All talks

< back to list of all my talks.

Games and their analysis from prehistory to today

Sheffield U3A Science & Technology Group, Sheffield (13/04/2026).

Abstract:
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 these stories. This talk offers a mathematician's perspective on these developments, including an exploration of the different types of game that yield to mathematical analysis.