On 2015-07-20 20:03, James Propp wrote:
A smart high school student whom I'm mentoring has expressed interest in learning about combinatorial game theory. My first thought was to recommend "Winning Ways", but I think it might be better to start her on something shorter and more focused, and then suggest "Winning Ways" if the shorter book whets her appetite for more. Any suggestions?
Jim Propp __________________________ The 12 yr old Australian kid who beat my record smallest nonlinear grower
#C 'Gotts Dots': sprouts its nth switchengine at t ~ 2^(24n-6) -- #C 41 ON cells, growth rate O(t ln t): Bill Gosper, 11 March 2006 #C More precisely, at t = 215643, 3662092278363, 61439713210231265883, #C ..., = 3 (4281 4096^(2 n - 1) - 211655)/241 whereat the #C populations go 316387, 5742718768151, 103173468009186875005, ..., #C = (9280232545511 2^(24 n) - 888556308770717696)/529964572999680 #C + (614 + 1427 2^(24 n - 12)/241) n. 25 Jan 2015 x = 187, y = 39, rule = B3/S23 o$o$o9$4bo3bo$5bobo$6bo2bo$9bo$9bo9$185bo$186bo$182bo3bo$183b4o$179bo$ 180b2o$179bo$183b4o$182bo3bo$186bo$185bo$175bo$176bo$170bo5bo$171b6o! taught himself Life out of a copy of WW he found in his grandfather's house. Some kids can handle anything. --rwg