The TOWER OF HANOI is composed of levels, decreasing in size, variable in number, that we have represented by eight disks of wood, pierced at their centers. In Japan, in China, and at Tonkin, they are made of porcelain.

The game consists of demolishing the tower level by level, and reconstructing it in a neighboring place, conforming to the rules given.

Amusing and instructive, easy to learn and to play in town, in the country, or on a voyage, it has for its aim the popularization of science, like all the other curious and novel games of professor N. CLAUS (OF SIAM).

We can offer a prize of ten thousand francs, of a hundred thousand francs, of a million francs, and more, to anyone who accomplishes, by hand the moving of the Tower of Hanoi with sixty-four levels, following the rules of the game. We will say immediately that it would be necessary to perform successively a number of moves equal to

According to an old Indian legend, the Brahmins have been following each other for a very long time on the steps of the alter in the Temple of Bernares, carrying out the moving of the Sacred Tower of Brahma with sixty-four levels in fine gold, trimmed with diamonds from Golconde. When all is finished, the Tower and the Brahmins will fall, and that will be the end of the world!

The URL for this page is http://www.cs.wm.edu/~pkstoc/page_1.html Last updated 28 August 1998