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Game Theory: A Very Short Introduction

Ken Binmore

October 2007

ISBN: 9780199218462

200 pages
Paperback
174x111mm

In Stock

Very Short Introductions

Price: £8.99

Games are played everywhere: from economics to evolutionary biology, and from social interactions to online auctions. Game theory is about how to play such games in a rational way, and how to maximize their outcomes. This Very Short Introduction shows how game theory can be understood without mathematical equations, and reveals that everything from how to play poker optimally to the sex ratio among bees can be understood by anyone willing to think seriously about the problem.

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Description

Games are played everywhere: from economics and online auctions to social interactions, and game theory is about how to play such games in a rational way, and how to maximize their outcomes. This VSI reveals, without mathematical equations, the insights the theory can bring to everything from how to play poker optimally to the sex ratio among bees.

  • Game theory is a relatively new discipline that has seen spectacular successes in evolutionary biology and economics, and is beginning to revolutionize other disciplines from psychology to political science.
  • Ken Binmore is a renowned game theorist and mathematician, and he explains the theory in a way that is both fun and non-mathematical yet also deeply insightful.
  • Wide coverage - Binmore reveals how game theory, as well as providing deep scientific and philosophical insights, can be valuable and enjoyably applied to everyday life - from social gatherings to ethical decision-making to gambling.
  • Explains why John Nash, whose life story was told in the film A Beautiful Mind, won a Nobel prize. And includes mini-biographies of other fascinating, and occasionally eccentric, founders of the subject.

About the Author(s)

Ken Binmore, Emeritus Professor of Economics, University College London

Table of Contents

    Preface
    1:The Name of the Game
    2:Chance
    3:Time
    4:Convention
    5:Reciprocity
    6:Information
    7:Auctions
    8:Biology
    9:Bargaining and Coalitions
    10:Puzzles and Paradoxes

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