The modern puzzle was credited to mathematician Édouard Lucas in 1883. Move the stack of disks from the left to the right in the optimal (fewest) number of moves.  The Tower is a problem often used to teach programming as an example of a simple recursive algorithm. Below are three of the governing rules:
  • Only one disk may be moved at a time.
  • Each move consists of taking the upper disk from one of the rods and sliding it onto another rod, on top of the other disks that may already be present on that rod.
  • No disk may be placed on top of a smaller disk
. | back |