"Ann Moyer invites us to engage with the forgotten, chess-like game rithmomachia ("The Battle of Numbers") that combined the pleasures of gaming with mathematical study and moral education. Intellectuals of the medieval and Renaissance periods who played this game were seeking not only to master the principles of Boethian mathematics, but to improve their minds and characters by contemplating its numbers and ratios.".

"The Philosophers' Game examines the nature and importance of the game's appeal as well as some of the reasons why it faded into obscurity." "The Philosophers' Game will interest anyone who studies the history of science, mathematics, or education in medieval and Renaissance Europe; the intellectual or cultural history of those eras; or the histories of games, sports, and leisure. It will also appeal to scholars interested in astrology and magic."--BOOK JACKET.