Math & Cultural

Join us as we celebrate the life and work of Martin Gardner on Wednesday, October 23 from 6 - 9 pm at the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute, located at 17 Gauss Way; Berkeley, CA 94720. 

The event will begin with a variety of talks and peformances by Carlo Sequin, Cliff Stoll, Allen Knutson, and Jordan Gold at 6pm.  The evening will feature engaging activites and presentations by the above, as well as Elwyn Berlekamp, Stan Isaacs, and Nancy Blachman, in addition to a wide selection of mathematical games, and a dessert reception.

We encourage you to bring your favorite mathematical game, artifact, or trick to share with other attendees!  If you would like to inquire about obtaining a reserved space in order to publicize your game/activity, please contact officeassist3@msri.org.


This event is part of a worldwide celebration of the legacy of Martin Gardner, held annually on or near his birthdate.  For more information about the Gathering for Gardner Foundation (G4G) 2013 Global Celebration of Mind Gathering, please visit the website:  www.g4g-com.org.

Image courtesy of the puzzle's creator, Robert A. Hearn, as featured on mathpuzzle.com.

"Place four coins on the bottom row of circles (G, D, E, and R), so that the letters MARTIN are exposed.  Your challenge is to slide these coins along the graph edges, covering the top row of circles, to expose the letters GARDNER.  Easy, right?  There's a catch -- at no time are two coins allowed to be next to each other along an edge.  You'll find this makes the task much more interesting.  (And yes, you have to slide the coins one at a time, all the way from one circle to another!)  For example, the G coin cannot move, initially -- it would wind up adjacent to the D coin.  But D can move to T.  (or D-T).  Be careful to pay attention to all edges as you slide the coins -- the I-R edge is particularly easy to miss.  Good Luck!"  Solution can be found on http://www.mathpuzzle.com/CoinsMG.txt