SCIENCE AND GAMES.
[TO THE EDITOR OF THE SPECTATOR."] SIR,—In any game of skill it is inevitable that the winner counts his BUCCeSII in some mathematical manner. When communication was less easy between different countries, and indeed between different parts of the same country, it was sufficient that the competitor arrived first at the winning- post. As the rivalry between different countries and different districts spread, it was only natural that the times and distances of different performances should be recorded. The value of such records consists in the similarity of the con- ditions under which competitions take place ; and a codification of the rules or conditions under which contests are held justifies, I think, the existence of the governing associations. Here we arrive at exact mathematics, and until the combative or competitive spirit dies out we must always be faced with the statement of the loser who has honestly tried to win—and no other loser is worth competing against—that "Anyway I won two games out of the five" (or words to that effect). Whether we in Great Britain approve or participate in the Quadrennial International Olympic Games or not, it is an undoubted fact that our rivals on the Continent, in our own Dominions, and in the United States of America take the Games very seriously, and are prepared (more often than not with the support of their Governments) to make every legitimate pre- paration to put into the field the best representatives which they as nations happen to possess at the time.
In 1908 Great Britain and in 1912 Sweden were respectively charged with the conduct of the International Olympic Games which closed the Fourth and Fifth Olympiads. The decision as to the events which were to be included in the programme of those two years was left to the decision of the Olympic Committees, in the one case of Great Britain and in the other of Sweden. In the result, Great Britain won the majority of events in 1908; Sweden won the majority of events in 1912. There must always be a distinct advantage in favour of the competitors representing the country in which the Olympic Games are held, because they compete in their own climate and under conditions in which they are familiar, and without the necessity of becoming accustomed to food and water different to that which they use at home. The advantage, however, of laying down the events which will be included in the programme has now disappeared. At the Congress to be held in Paris in June next year, at which thirty-two nations will be represented, the standard programme for the Olympic Games of Berlin, and for all future Olympic Games, will be finally decided, and to this Congress Great Britain, in addition to the three representa- tives on the International Olympic Committee, which she already possesses, will be entitled to send ten delegates
selected by the British Olympic Council If I may quote the end of the article, "Games as Mathematical Problems," "In a more perfect world than promises itself at present it may be adnfltte that it is after all a finer and a happier thing to know holi, to play a game than bow to win a game." I would submit, that it is hardly possible to learn to play a game unless you try to win, and indeed hope at some time to excel. Howeys mych, we may regret the passing of the old days when M6s petition was not of such a mathematical exactness, we must realize that the desire for creating records exists, and take the besf,means which we can to ensure that competitions, whether national or international, shall be conducted in the fairest possible manner and with the greatest possible good- will—With many apologies for the length of my letter, I am, (Secretary, British Olympic Association). 108 Victoria Street, London, S.W.
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