I had no idea that the first time I met Tom Rodgers would also be the last time. We met him the Monday evening before Gathering for Gardner 9, the 2010 version of his biannual event that united creative thinkers who like to challenge rules and perceptions. To get us there, Peter had turned the…
Tag: G4G9
Our Last Day at Gathering 4 Gardner 9
By Sunday, things were beginning to slow down, though Neil was still disappointed that we’d overslept so he missed the first 20 minutes of Sunday’s talks. During the first break, we went to the exhibition room, where the artists and puzzlers were taking down their exhibits. I’d admired Jenine Mosley’s clever shapes, made completely out…
Party at Tom and Sarah’s
On Saturday afternoon, we loaded ourselves onto several buses which went over to Tom and Sarah’s house, where we could see the mathematical art, and participate in building some new sculptures. Soon enough Neil got to work on what he called a “Hilbert Curve,” a sculpture which eventually ended up looking like this: Julian came…
Neil Trips Up a Magician
On Friday at G4G9, magician Derek Hughes asked Neil to come on stage with him for his act. Unfortunately for Derek, Neil has spent the morning listening to talks from illusionists on perspective and misdirection. My video is just awful, but the dialogue between the two of them is great: Derek has made Neil promise…
Hackers Hacking Conway’s Game of Life
There were only a few talks scheduled for Saturday morning, since we were all going off to the party at Tom’s house that afternoon, but they were very good talks. Al Seckel, who wrote Neil’s favorite illusions book, gave a talk about the Nature of Belief: how our own biases affect our perception, and how…
The Puzzlers’ Philosophy
G4G9 invited both those who like to make puzzles, and those who try to solve them. So when I had the chance to speak to one of the puzzle-solvers, Joe DeVincentis, I asked him how he goes about solving puzzles. He told me the first step is to figure out what kind of a puzzle…