Towers of Hanoi

To play the game you see below click here. It's called The Towers of Hanoi. A history of the game is given below the picture. When you go to the site where you can play it, you can choose how many disks to use, and you can also have the computer solve it for you if you get frustrated!



According to Math Around the World by Lawrence Hall of Science :

"The Tower of Hanoi (sometimes referred to as the Tower of Brahma or the End of the World Puzzle) was invented by the French mathematician, Edouard Lucas, in 1883. He was inspired by a legend that tells of a Hindu temple where the pyramid puzzle might have been used for the mental discipline of young priests. Legend says that at the beginning of time the priests in the temple were given a stack of 64 gold disks, each one a little smaller than the one beneath it. Their assignment was to transfer the 64 disks from one of the three poles to another, with one important provisonal large disk could never be placed on top of a smaller one. The priests worked very efficiently, day and night. When they finished their work, the myth said, the temple would crumble into dust and the world would vanish."