Wednesday, September 14, 2011

264.

X was invented by the French mathematician Édouard Lucas in 1883. There is a legend about an Indian temple which contains a large room with three time-worn posts in it surrounded by 64 golden plates. Brahmin priests, acting out the command of an ancient prophecy, have been moving these disks, since that time. Therefore X is also named after Brahma. According to the legend, when the last move is completed, the world will end. It is not clear whether Lucas invented this legend or was inspired by it.

There are many variations on this legend. For instance, in some tellings, the temple is a monastery and the priests are monks. The temple or monastery may be said to be in different parts of the world — including _________, and may be associated with any religion. In some versions, other elements are introduced, such as the fact that the tower was created at the beginning of the world, or that the priests or monks may make only one move per day. Some also claim that X was named for the building in the picture.

Identify X.

3 comments:

raghav said...

tower of hanoi

karthik said...

Tower of Hanoi(thanks to Datastructures!!!)

shabaz said...

Tower of Hanoi
Permutations..........