Proofs and Buckets of Fish

The Art of Mathematics

Joel David Hamkins, author of Proof and the Art of Mathematics, presents the game Buckets of Fish, which seemingly will go on forever. Yet he presents a proof that it will always come to an end. In fact, he proves it using contradiction, mathematical induction, and even transfinite ordinals. Why do mathematicians like to do multiple proofs of a single statement? He also gives a winning strategy for the game and proves it works.

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Joel David Hamkins, author of Proof and the Art of Mathematics, presents the game Buckets of Fish, which seemingly will go on forever. Yet he presents a proof that it will always come to an end. In fact, he proves it using contradiction, mathematical induction, and even transfinite ordinals. Why do mathematicians like to do multiple proofs of a single statement? He also gives a winning strategy for the game and proves it works.

2026-02-25 15 min
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