| Edition |
First edition. |
| Description |
xi, 290 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages [279]-283) and index. |
| Summary |
Watching players bluff in a poker game inspired John von Neumann--father of the modern computer and one of the sharpest minds of the century--to construct game theory, a mathematical study of conflict and deception. Game theory was embraced at the RAND Corporation, the think tank charged with formulating military strategy for the atomic age, and in 1950 two RAND scientists discovered the "prisoner's dilemma"--a disturbing game where two or more people may betray the common good for individual gain. The prisoner's dilemma quickly became a popular allegory of the nuclear arms race. Game theory developed into a controversial tool of public policy--alternately accused of justifying arms races and touted as the only hope of preventing them. Biographer Poundstone weaves together a biography of the brilliant and tragic von Neumann, a history of pivotal phases of the cold war, and an investigation of game theory's far-reaching influence.--From publisher description. |
| Contents |
1. Dilemmas. The Nuclear Dilemma. John von Neumann. Prisoner's Dilemma -- 2. John Von Neumann. The Child Prodigy. Kun's Hungary. Early Career. The Institute. Klara. Personality. The Sturm und Drang Period. The Best Brain in the World -- 3. Game Theory. Kriegspiel. Who Was First? Theory of Games and Economic Behavior. Cake Division. Rational Players. Games as Trees. Games as Tables. Zero-Sum Games. Minimax and Cake. Mixed Strategies. Curve Balls and Deadly Genes. The Minimax Theorem. N-Person Games -- 4. The Bomb. Von Neumann at Los Alamos. Game Theory in Wartime. Bertrand Russell. World Government. Operation Crossroads. The Computer. Preventive War -- 5. The RAND Corporation. History. Thinking About the Unthinkable. Surfing, Semantics, Finnish Phonology. Von Neumann at RAND. John Nash. The Monday-Morning Quarterback -- 6. Prisoner's Dilemma. The Buick Sale. Honor Among Thieves. The Flood-Dresher Experiment. Tucker's Anecdote. Common Sense. Prisoner's Dilemmas in Literature. Free Rider. Nuclear Rivalry -- 7. 1950. The Soviet Bomb. The Man from Mars. Urey's Speech. The Fuchs Affair. The Korean War. The Nature of Technical Surprise. Aggressors for Peace. Francis Matthews. Aftermath. Public Reaction. Was It a Trial Balloon? The MacArthur Speech. Orvil Anderson. Press Reaction. How Many Bombs? Coda -- 8. Game Theory and Its Discontents. Criticism of Game Theory. Utility and Machiavelli. Are People Rational? The Ohio State Studies -- 9. Von Neumann's Last Years. The H-Bomb. A Very Fine Tiger. The Commissioner. The Moment of Hope. Illness. Death -- 10. Chicken and the Cuban Missile Crisis. Chicken. Volunteer's Dilemma. Volunteer's Dilemma Experiments. The Cuban Missile Crisis. The Madman Theory -- 11. More on Social Dilemmas. Deadlock. Stag Hunt. Asymmetric Games. Justifying Cooperation. Howard's Meta-Game. Backward Induction Paradox -- 12. Survival of the Fittest. Stable Strategies. Is Defection in the Genes? Robert Axelrod. TIT FOR TAT. The Trouble with TIT FOR TAT. Artificial Selection. The Fish in the Mirror. Cooperation and Civilization. TIT FOR TAT in the Real World -- 13. The Dollar Auction. Escalation. Shubik's Dollar Auction. Dollar Auctions in Real Life. Strategies. Rational Bidding. Where Game Theory Fails. The Largest-Number Game. Feather in a Vacuum. |
| Subject |
Von Neumann, John, 1903-1957.
|
|
Mathematicians -- United States -- Biography.
|
| Other Form: |
Online version: Poundstone, William. Prisoner's dilemma. 1st ed. New York : Doubleday, c1992 (OCoLC)624476679 |
| ISBN |
0385415672: $22.00 ($28.00 Can.) |
|
9780385415675 |
|
