Lichtgedanken 05

Rubrik 39 05 | LICHT GEDANKEN their future lives: »I don’t just teach my students about maths; I also teach them how to communicate with non-mathemati- cians.« Althöfer knows, of course, that mathematicians are of- ten seen as being out of touch with reality; as nerds who bury themselves in their work and forget about the world outside. That is the reason behind his rule that the beginning and end of exam theses must be written in generally understandable language—»the magic of math can happen in the middle!« The mathematician has developed numerous games The ability to lose oneself in mathematical problems is also one of Ingo Althöfer’s traits. But he maintains a connection with »worldly« topics. Thus, for example, the passionate chess player was fascinated by the idea of playing against interna- tional chess masters with a three-brain method. Three brains, that is to say two computers and Althöfer, competing against a professional chess player. The two computers each suggest a move and then Prof. Althöfer plays one of these candida- te moves. In 1997, he used this method to defeat the German number one, Artur Yusupov. In the City of Culture Year 1999, there was supposed to be a match against Garri Kasparov, but it didn’t take place. »Kasparow had lost to Deep Blue and didn’t want to compete against a computer in public again«, says Ingo Althöfer. It would also have been difficult to raise the 500,000 Marks needed to pay for the spectacle. After the three-brain experiments with chess, Ingo Althöfer turned his attentions to the game of Go. Computers have now defeated humans in this game too. Ingo Althöfer has re- cently founded a German Freestyle Go League, in which the use of computers is permitted. He expects the strongholds of German informatics, Karlsruhe or Paderborn, to win; unfor- tunately, the team »Jena International Go School« missed the application deadline. Ingo Althöfer is fascinated by games. »Stacheldraht« is his favourite game. It is also known as »Rauf-und-Runter« or »Wizard of Oz«. The mathematician has developed numerous games himself. His most successful game is »Finale« alias »Torjäger«, with 240,000 sold copies. Ingo Althöfer says that his best game is »EinStein würfelt nicht« (or Einstein doesn’t roll dice), which he published using his own label. What ma- kes a good game? »You need to be able to understand the ru- les in in one minute without the need for 80 pages of instruc- tions.« When negotiating with games publishers, he believes it has been advantageous to not let on that he is a mathematici- an: »We are seen as being too highbrow and complex; it scares people off.« Occasionally, Ingo Althöfer goes on stage to prove that mathematics isn’t witchcraft: he has already taken part in the »Einstein Slam« three times. At the Première 2015 in Jena, he won with »Roulette with physics«. One year later, he came third with his lecture on »The physics and mathematics of high heels« and in 2018 he came second. The title of the lecture: »Lego bricks in the washing machine«. Althöfer’s latest project doesn’t have anything to do with ga- mes. Over the next year he wants to write a biography of the mathematician Lothar Collatz, whose 200 boxes of work he found in the Hamburg University archive. »I didn’t realise how fun it is to dig around in the archives.« He now wants to share this joy with his readers. The book about the numerical mathematician Collatz, who left behind 1,200 academic schoo- lars, is intended to be an entertaining read that is also suitable for non-mathematicians. You don’t need a prophetic gift to be able to predict the success of this next endeavour by the down- to-earth academic Althöfer.  There is still a lot of space on the cork ball, which the mathematician Prof. Dr Ingo Althöfer gets his guests to mark with prime numbers as a souvenir.