Chinook

Chinook

Author: ACMEScience September 17, 2012 Duration: 1:02:29

You may not think of checkers as an important game intellectually. It certainly has never had the cachet of chess. That did not stop it from becoming the obsession of the University of Alberta computer science professor for nearly two decades and the center of one of the most ambitious Artificial Intelligence projects ever undertaken. This is their story.

Listen to the Episode

(download)

Subscribe via iTunes

Subscribe via RSS

Follow ACMEScience on twitter, and Samuel Hansen too, for Updates on Relatively Prime, and our other shows

Guests:

Jonathan Schaeffer is a Computer Science Professor at the University of Alberta where he is also the current Dean of the Faculty of Science.

Download the Uncut Jonathan Schaeffer Interview

 

Chinook is the greatest checkers player in the world, in fact it is impossible to beat. The product of an 18 year project in computer artificial intelligence, Chinook represents one of the greatest breakthroughs in computer game playing and was the first machine to ever hold a human world championship.

 

Music:

sr_cafe
Mgen
Joe Nathan 007
sciencectn (2) (3)
xlcntr
marcalexandre
thedeadsoul
amethystdeceiver
_Oce_


Behind every equation, theorem, and abstract concept, there are human stories waiting to be told. Relatively Prime: Stories from the Mathematical Domain uncovers these narratives, moving far beyond textbook explanations to explore the passion, curiosity, and occasional frustration that drive mathematical discovery. Produced by ACMEScience, this podcast delves into the rich, often overlooked history and culture surrounding numbers and ideas. Each episode feels like a conversation, where you might hear about the quirky personalities behind pivotal proofs or the unexpected ways mathematical thinking shapes our everyday world. The focus is on connection-how mathematics intertwines with art, politics, philosophy, and personal endeavor. Tuning in, you'll find a thoughtful and accessible series that treats its subject with warmth and depth, making the domain of maths feel both relatable and astonishing. It’s for anyone who has ever wondered about the stories buried within the formulas, offering a genuinely human perspective on a profoundly human intellectual pursuit. This isn't about solving for x; it's about understanding the why.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 63

Relatively Prime: Stories from the Mathematical Domain
Podcast Episodes
Other Duties as Assigned [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 57:52
Download the Episode Subscribe: iTunes or RSS Other Duties As Assigned Mathematician is an insanely broad job title It can encompass everyone from professors to government employees to podcast hosts. And all of these dif…
Diegetic Plots: Chapter 1 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:16:52
Download the Episode Subscribe: iTunes or RSS Diegetic Plots: Chapter One This episode of Relatively Prime is going to be delving into the humanistic side of mathematics. It is the first chapter in a recurring series Sam…
Mathematistan [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 56:50
Download the Episode Subscribe: iTunes or RSS Mathematistan Mathematics may be the most pure, the most abstract, the most ivory tower of all academic disciplines, but nothing, nothing is beyond the reach of politics. Thi…
Your Daily Recommended Math [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 53:27
Download the Episode Subscribe: iTunes or RSS Your Daily Recommended Math We all use mathematics everyday. At least that is what we all like to tell our friends who ask us, “What good is math anyway?” The problem is so m…
The Lexicon [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:14:52
The Lexicon Download the Episode Subscribe: iTunes or RSS The Three R’s, Reading Writing and ’Rithmetic, have formed the basis of formal education for centuries, at least since they were mentioned by Sir William Curtis i…
1+1=2 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:02:25
It hardly seems that a week can go by without seeing another newspaper story or television report about the decline of the American Educational Establishment. Particularly in respect to mathematics. As a product of said…
0,1,2,3… [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:16:24
This episode is all about the forgotten mathematical tool of numbers. Ok, forgotten may be a bit strong, but after a certain point in mathematics numbers seem to lose a bit of their importance. For the first few years af…
Erdos [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:02:25
Paul Erdos was one of the greatest mathematicians of the 20th Century, the one that other mathematicians measure their distance from, and beyond that one of the most interesting. His highly collaborative, highly nomadic…
The Score [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:06:06
There are many similarities between mathematics and music. They are their own vocabulary, their own written language, their own way of describing the world around us, but while they are similar the Venn diagram that cont…
The Shape of Things [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:05:45
Mathematics is rather unfairly thought of as a numbers game, but there really is much more too it and after scouring the world Samuel Hansen found a man proud to stand on his geometric soapbox, another with some importan…