These notes provide a formal introduction to the theory of surreal numbers in a clear and lucid style.

Nearly 30 years ago, John Horton Conway introduced a new way to construct numbers. Donald E. Knuth, in appreciation of this revolutionary system, took a week off from work on The Art of Computer Programming to write an introduction to Conway's method. Never content with the ordinary, Knuth wrote this introduction as a work of fiction--a novelette. If not a steamy romance, the book nonetheless shows how a young couple turned on to pure mathematics and found total happiness. The book's primary aim, Knuth explains in a postscript, is not so much to teach Conway's theory as "to teach how one might go about developing such a theory." He continues: "Therefore, as the two characters in this book gradually explore and build up Conway's number system, I have recorded their false starts and frustrations as well as their good ideas. I wanted to give a reasonably faithful portrayal of the important principles, techniques, joys, passions, and philosophy of mathematics, so I wrote the story as I was actually doing the research myself."... It is an astonishing feat of legerdemain. An empty hat rests on a table made of a few axioms of standard set theory. Conway waves two simple rules in the air, then reaches into almost nothing and pulls out an infinitely rich tapestry of numbers that form a real and closed field. Every real number is surrounded by a host of new numbers that lie closer to it than any other "real" value does. The system is truly "surreal." quoted from Martin Gardner, Mathematical Magic Show, pp. 16--19 Surreal Numbers, now in its 13th printing, will appeal to anyone who might enjoy an engaging dialogue on abstract mathematical ideas, and who might wish to experience how new mathematics is created. 0201038129B04062001

Originally written to define the relation between the theories of transfinite numbers and mathematical games, the resulting work is a mathematically sophisticated but eminently enjoyable guide to game theory. By defining numbers as the strengths of positions in certain games, the author arrives at a new class that includes both real numbers and ordinal numbers: surreal numbers. The second edition presents developments in mathematical game theory, focusing on surreal numbers and the additive theory of partizan games.

The political regime of global capitalism reduces the world to an endless network of numbers within numbers, but how many of us really understand what numbers are? Without such an understanding, how can we challenge the regime of number? In Number and Numbers Alain Badiou offers an philosophically penetrating account with a powerful political subtext of the attempts that have been made over the last century to define the special status of number. Badiou argues that number cannot be defined by the multiform calculative uses to which numbers are put, nor is it exhausted by the various species described by number theory. Drawing on the mathematical theory of surreal numbers, he develops a unified theory of Number as a particular form of being, an infinite expanse to which our access remains limited. This understanding of Number as being harbours important philosophical truths about the structure of the world in which we live. In Badiou's view, only by rigorously thinking through Number can philosophy offer us some hope of breaking through the dense and apparently impenetrable capitalist fabric of numerical relations. For this will finally allow us to point to that which cannot be numbered: the possibility of an event that would deliver us from our unthinking subordination of number.

Everyone knows the real numbers, those fundamental quantities that make possible all of mathematics from high school algebra and Euclidean geometry through the Calculus and beyond; and also serve as the basis for measurement in science, industry, and ordinary life. This book surveys alternative real number systems: systems that generalize and extend the real numbers yet stay close to these properties that make the reals central to mathematics. Alternative real numbers include many different kinds of numbers, for example multidimensional numbers (the complex numbers, the quaternions and others), infinitely small and infinitely large numbers (the hyperreal numbers and the surreal numbers), and numbers that represent positions in games (the surreal numbers). Each system has a well-developed theory, including applications to other areas of mathematics and science, such as physics, the theory of games, multi-dimensional geometry, and formal logic. They are all active areas of current mathematical research and each has unique features, in particular, characteristic methods of proof and implications for the philosophy of mathematics, both highlighted in this book. Alternative real number systems illuminate the central, unifying role of the real numbers and include some exciting and eccentric parts of mathematics. Which Numbers Are Real? Will be of interest to anyone with an interest in numbers, but specifically to upper-level undergraduates, graduate students, and professional mathematicians, particularly college mathematics teachers.

The history of mathematics is filled with major breakthroughs resulting from solutions to recreational problems. Problems of interest to gamblers led to the modern theory of probability, for example, and surreal numbers were inspired by the game of Go. Yet even with such groundbreaking findings and a wealth of popular-level books, research in recreational mathematics has often been neglected. The Mathematics of Various Entertaining Subjects now returns with a brand-new compilation of fascinating problems and solutions in recreational mathematics. This latest volume gathers together the top experts in recreational math and presents a compelling look at board games, card games, dice, toys, computer games, and much more. The book is divided into five parts: puzzles and brainteasers, geometry and topology, graph theory, games of chance, and computational complexity. Readers will discover what origami, roulette wheels, and even the game of Trouble can teach about math. Essays contain new results, and the contributors include short expositions on their topic’s background, providing a framework for understanding the relationship between serious mathematics and recreational games. Mathematical areas explored include combinatorics, logic, graph theory, linear algebra, geometry, topology, computer science, operations research, probability, game theory, and music theory. Investigating an eclectic mix of games and puzzles, The Mathematics of Various Entertaining Subjects is sure to entertain, challenge, and inspire academic mathematicians and avid math enthusiasts alike.

This classic on games and how to play them intelligently is being re-issued in a new, four volume edition. This book has laid the foundation to a mathematical approach to playing games. The wise authors wield witty words, which wangle wonderfully winning ways. In Volume 1, the authors do the Spade Work, presenting theories and techniques to "dissect" games of varied structures and formats in order to develop winning strategies.