LEADER 02085pam 2200217 a 4500
001 891510
005 20181210092822.0
008 181225s2017 nyua g b 001 0 eng
010 $a2017017649
020 $a9781633883734 (pbk.) :$cNT$630
040 $aTWTNM$beng$dTWTNM
041 1 $aeng$hger
050 00$aQA269$b.T3813 2017
082 04$a519.3$222
100 1 $aTaschner, Rudolf J.$q(Rudolf Josef),$eauthor.
245 10$aGame changers :$bstories of the revolutionary minds behind game theory /$cby Rudolf Taschner, English translation by Brian Taylor.
250 $aFirst American trade paperback edition.
260 $aAmherst, New York :$bPrometheus Books,$c2017.
300 $a237 p. :$bill. ;$c23 cm.
500 $a"Originally published as Die Mathematik des Daseins by Carl Hanser Verlag GmbH & Co. KG, Munich, 2015.".
504 $aIncludes bibliographical references and index.
520 $a"In this lively history of game theory, a gifted math educator and science writer explains for lay readers the uses and value of this innovative yet easy-to-understand approach to mathematical modeling. Essentially, game theory interprets life as a game with mathematical rules. By following the rules, decisions can be calculated that result in the greatest benefit for all participants. The author takes the reader from the 17th century through the Cold War to today's age of turbo capitalism. Along the way he introduces such leading contributors as Blaise Pascal in the 17th century, who invented the theory of probability; Ludwig Wittgenstein in the 20th century, who conceived of the world as a play of words; John Nash (the subject of A Beautiful Mind) in the 1950s, who laid the foundation of modern game theory; and today's practitioners who apply the theory to global finance and military strategy. As the author shows, game theory is more than a type of cost-benefit analysis; ultimately, it is a quest for meaning"--$cProvided by publisher.
520 $a"A professor of mathematics and popular science writer makes game theory understandable to lay readers in this lively history of the theory's evolution, including profiles of its leading contributors"--$cProvided by publisher.
650 0$aGame theory$xHistory.
650 0$aExistence theorems.
650 0$aGame theory.
650 0$aMathematics$xHistory.
650 0$aEconomics, Mathematical.