Under Construction

The Game of Life was invented in xxxx by a mathematician, John Horton Conway, as an attempt to simulate bacterial life in a mathematical way. It takes place on an infinite grid of squares. Each square can be occupied by a cell or can be empty. The cells live, reproduce and die according to rules which Conway devised by much experiment:

• 0, 1 neighbour - die of loneliness
• 2 or 3 neighbours - just right
• 4 or more neighbours - die of overcrowding
• Empty cell with 3 neighbours - give birth

All births and deaths take place simultaneously, then there is a pause, then the next series of births take place.

This game is ideal for computerisation. Build a random construction and watch it evolve. Very quickly you will see stable patterns, patterns that flip backwards and forwards between two states indefinitely and gliders, which are patterns which move along keeping basically the same shape. A glider gun is a pattern that shoots out gliders but keeps itself stationary.

Some interesting patterns

The Block

The block is the same every generation. It doesn't change at all, unless a passing pattern interferes with it.

The Flipper

This flips back and forward between two states.