War Games: A History of War on Paper

War Games: A History of War on Paper
ISBN-10
0262300370
ISBN-13
9780262300377
Series
War Games
Category
Technology & Engineering
Pages
234
Language
English
Published
2012-03-16
Publisher
MIT Press
Author
Philipp Von Hilgers

Description

The convergence of military strategy and mathematics in war games, from medieval to modern times. For centuries, both mathematical and military thinkers have used game-like scenarios to test their visions of mastering a complex world through symbolic operations. By the end of World War I, mathematical and military discourse in Germany simultaneously discovered the game as a productive concept. Mathematics and military strategy converged in World War II when mathematicians designed fields of operation. In this book, Philipp von Hilgers examines the theory and practice of war games through history, from the medieval game boards, captured on parchment, to the paper map exercises of the Third Reich. Von Hilgers considers how and why war games came to exist: why mathematical and military thinkers created simulations of one of the most unpredictable human activities on earth. Von Hilgers begins with the medieval rythmomachia, or Battle of Numbers, then reconstructs the ideas about war and games in the baroque period. He investigates the role of George Leopold von Reiswitz's tactical war game in nineteenth-century Prussia and describes the artifact itself: a game board–topped table with drawers for game implements. He explains Clausewitz's emphasis on the “fog of war” and the accompanying element of incalculability, examines the contributions of such thinkers as Clausewitz, Leibniz, Wittgenstein, and von Neumann, and investigates the war games of the German military between the two World Wars. Baudrillard declared this to be the age of simulacra; war games stand contrariwise as simulations that have not been subsumed in absolute virtuality.

Get the book

Amazon.com
Amazon.com
Search the book
eBay.com
eBay.com
Search the book

Other editions

Similar books

  • War Games
    By David Bischoff

    The nation's computers show an imminent missile attack. Could this be it? This is the story, based on the successful movie "Wargames" of how one young computer freak sent the nation's defenses into turmoil and nearly caused World War III.

  • War Games: The Secret World of the Creators, Players, and Policy Makers Rehearsing World War III Today
    War Games: The Secret World of the Creators, Players, and Policy Makers Rehearsing World War III Today
    By Thomas B. Allen

    War Games: The Secret World of the Creators, Players, and Policy Makers Rehearsing World War III Today

  • War Games: Inside the World of Twentieth-Century War Reenactors
    War Games: Inside the World of Twentieth-Century War Reenactors
    By Jenny Thompson

    War Games sheds light on the ways people actually make use of history in their daily lives and looks intensely into the meaning of war itself and how wars have become the heart of American history.

  • Wargames: A Novel
    Wargames: A Novel
    By David Bischoff

    When a young computer genius is able to tap into the American computerized defense system, he risks setting off a nuclear war

  • War and Games
    War and Games
    By Thomas B. Allen, Tim Cornell

    These comparative studies focus on the relationship between war and games in an effort to achieve an understanding of the phenomenon of war, in order ultimately to avoid it.

  • War Games
    War Games
    By Audrey Couloumbis, Akila Couloumbis

    Based on a true story of World War II. For 12-year-old Petros, World War II feels unreal and far away.

  • War Games
    War Games
    By Jonna Eagle

    Covering everything from chess to football, from Saving Private Ryan to American Sniper, and from Call of Duty to drone interfaces, War Games is an essential guide for anyone seeking to understand the militarization of American culture, ...

  • Real War Games Inc.
    Real War Games Inc.
    By Michelle Hamilton

    Had I only known, I lamented for the hundredth time since I'd boarded this small bus emblazoned with the Real War Games Inc. logo at the Denver International Airport, I never would have gotten off my plane from New York, never would have ...

  • War Game: Village Green to No-man's-land
    War Game: Village Green to No-man's-land
    By Michael Foreman

    A special lavishly illustrated new edition of Michael Foreman's classic story.

  • The Complete Book of Wargames
    By Jon Freeman

    Describes and evaluates in terms of presentation, rules, playability, realism, and complexity, wargames located in various ages and in real and imaginary lands