2008 Woodie Awards
Marist math club hold technique seminars for Sudoku craze
MORGAN NEDERHOOD, MICHELLE MORICO, AND ALICIA MATTIELLO
Issue date: 2/8/07 Section: Features
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"Sudoku" is the latest in pop culture that Japan has graciously passed down to America - after Tamagotchi, Power Rangers, and Anime.
This popular logic puzzle will be examined at the Marist College Mathematics Seminar on Friday, Feb. 23. Bob McGrail, an Assistant Professor of Computer Science and Mathematics at Bard College, will speak at 3:30 p.m. in Lowell Thomas 001. The seminar is open to the public.
Jeanne Sihksnel, a freshman Mathematics major, first saw a Sudoku puzzle in her high school senior math class.
"We had to do it in class," Sihksnel explained. "Then I just started playing it."
She was hooked after that first game. She said she feels 'really good' after completing a Sudoku problem and now plays Sudoku online to broaden her math skills.
"It requires you to think a lot," she said.
McGrail looks forward to speaking to math enthusiasts.
"I should confess that my reason for giving this talk is to entice talented Marist students and faculty members to work with me on related problems," he said.
A common misconception is that Sudoku requires a mathematical background. However, anyone can complete a puzzle. Associate professor K. Peter Krog, who has taught Mathematics at Marist for more than 11 years, has seen Sudoku puzzles where colors or shapes replace the numbers. The puzzles have "nothing to do with the numbers themselves," he said.
Sudoku is a puzzle of 81 boxes. Each box will eventually contain a digit that is one through nine. The puzzle begins in a partially-completed state, and the object is to fill in the remaining boxes. However, no row or column may contain a repeated number.
"You sort of have to think your way through," says Krog. "You have to piece it together."
Many people first encounter Sudoku when they open a newspaper.
"It tends to sit along side crosswords and crypto quotes in newspaper and magazine puzzle sections," said McGrail. "It is very mathematical in nature, yet quite accessible."
This popular logic puzzle will be examined at the Marist College Mathematics Seminar on Friday, Feb. 23. Bob McGrail, an Assistant Professor of Computer Science and Mathematics at Bard College, will speak at 3:30 p.m. in Lowell Thomas 001. The seminar is open to the public.
Jeanne Sihksnel, a freshman Mathematics major, first saw a Sudoku puzzle in her high school senior math class.
"We had to do it in class," Sihksnel explained. "Then I just started playing it."
She was hooked after that first game. She said she feels 'really good' after completing a Sudoku problem and now plays Sudoku online to broaden her math skills.
"It requires you to think a lot," she said.
McGrail looks forward to speaking to math enthusiasts.
"I should confess that my reason for giving this talk is to entice talented Marist students and faculty members to work with me on related problems," he said.
A common misconception is that Sudoku requires a mathematical background. However, anyone can complete a puzzle. Associate professor K. Peter Krog, who has taught Mathematics at Marist for more than 11 years, has seen Sudoku puzzles where colors or shapes replace the numbers. The puzzles have "nothing to do with the numbers themselves," he said.
Sudoku is a puzzle of 81 boxes. Each box will eventually contain a digit that is one through nine. The puzzle begins in a partially-completed state, and the object is to fill in the remaining boxes. However, no row or column may contain a repeated number.
"You sort of have to think your way through," says Krog. "You have to piece it together."
Many people first encounter Sudoku when they open a newspaper.
"It tends to sit along side crosswords and crypto quotes in newspaper and magazine puzzle sections," said McGrail. "It is very mathematical in nature, yet quite accessible."
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Matthew Meltzer
posted 2/10/07 @ 9:26 AM EST
***"Sudoku" is the latest in pop culture that Japan has graciously passed down to America - after Tamagotchi, Power Rangers, and Anime.***
I quote from:
http://www. (Continued…)
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