Piet Hein

Danish polymath (1905–1996) — mathematician, inventor, and poet, known in his own country primarily for his aphoristic "grooks" (short verses, published under the pen name Kumbel) and for the superellipse and Soma cube. In this vault he matters as the independent, earlier inventor of the board game Hex, devised in Denmark in 1942 under the name Polygon — six years before John Nash separately rediscovered the same game at Princeton. Nash's own 1952 RAND report credits the priority plainly: "It seems that it was originally discovered in Denmark, and rediscovered by the author at Princeton."

References

• claim-nash-1952-rand-report-confirms-hex-proof-non-constructive · claim-nash-hex-first-player-win-proof-is-non-constructive
• Capture: 10-inbox/raw/2026-08-21-verify-nashs-hex-strategy-stealing-proof-non-constructive.md