Domino is a game in which players place tiles edge to edge on a table and mark them with an arrangement of dots, or pips, like those on a die. The pips on a domino are either identical or different from those on the adjacent face, and each player must play a tile so that it is touching both ends of one of the other tiles in the line of play. The first tile to fall ends the line of play, and the number that is shown at both ends of the line of play is used as a scoring factor.
The simplest domino game requires two players and can be played with a double-six set of 28 tiles. These are shuffled together and form a stock, or boneyard. Each player draws seven tiles from the stock and then begins building a domino chain by placing a tile on its end against another, with the open end of the preceding domino facing up. The resulting chain of dominos can be counted and scored as the winning player claims them, with any remaining tiles in the losing player’s hand being added to the score.
A series of overlapping dominos, a domino effect, is a spectacular and exciting visual display. The effect can be seen at many popular amusement parks, including Universal Studios Florida, where a ‘domino wall’ is located in the Great Movie Ride. In some cases, domino builders compete for the most imaginative and elaborate domino reaction before an audience of viewers at a domino show.
Like the chain of dominoes, a successful business relies on a system of rules and order. It also depends on the ability to communicate effectively and keep its employees motivated. Domino’s Pizza has a well-defined leadership structure, with the company’s CEO and other executives involved in employee training. Its leaders also seek to understand the needs of its customers, as illustrated by a recent episode of the television show “Undercover Boss,” in which Domino’s CEO Don Meij goes undercover at several restaurants and delivery services.
Hevesh’s creations are amazing. The hundreds and thousands of dominoes are carefully arranged in careful sequence, with each piece nudged just past its tipping point by the next one. But it takes only a tiny nudge for the whole chain to fall, and all that potential energy is suddenly converted into pure kinetic energy. The same principle is behind the chain reaction in a nerve cell, which is why we have that satisfying sensation when we watch a long string of dominoes fall at a steady pace. Eventually, it reaches its end and collapses. The speed at which it falls is proportional to the size of the triggering domino, and it travels in only one direction, just as a nerve impulse can travel only in a single direction from its body to its ends. This is a basic principle of physics, but it has applications in everyday life.