Game Theory: A Very Short Introduction

Description

Very Short Introductions have proven to be extremely popular with general readers, as well as undergraduates and their lecturers.

Games are everywhere: Drivers manoeuvring in heavy traffic are playing a driving game. Bargain hunters bidding on eBay are playing an auctioning game. A firm negotiating next year’s wage is playing a bargaining game. The opposing candidates in an election are playing a political game. The supermarket’s price for corn flakes is decided by playing an economic game.

Game theory is about how to play such games in a rational way. Even when the players have not thought everything out in advance, game theory often works for the same reason that mindless animals sometimes end up behaving very cleverly: evolutionary forces eliminate irrational play because it is unfit.

Game theory has seen spectacular successes in evolutionary biology and economics, and is beginning to revolutionize other disciplines from psychology to political science. This Very Short Introduction introduces the fascinating world of game theory, showing how it can be understood without mathematical equations, and revealing 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.

Key Features

• 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.

Table of Contents

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

About the Series

Oxford’s Very Short Introductions series offers concise and original introductions to a wide range of subjects – from Public Health to Buddhist Ethics, Soft Matter to Classics, and Art History to Globalization. Each volume provides an authoritative and engaging assessment of a concept, field, or body of work, drawing out the central ideas, themes, and approaches. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, new insights, and enthusiasm to make often challenging topics highly readable to develop your core knowledge. With over 700 titles and many more in development, as well as regularly updated new editions, the series is constantly evolving to reflect a contemporary readership. Whatever your area of study, whatever the topic that fascinates you, the series is an indispensable and accessible guide that will enrich your understanding.

Reviews

“The Very Short Introductions range from worth reading to wonderfully appealing… Much of the pleasure to be found in them is the bedrock one of good nonfiction: facts… They appeal to us because the world is vast and strange, because everywhere we look, from the firefly flashing in the darkness to Auden’s elegy for Yeats, there is something to provoke our curiosity, some sliver of existence that we want to understand.” – New Yorker Magazine

“I have a pile of the Short Introductions and they are uniformly excellent: an ideal way to dip your toe in a topic and, being relatively cheap, allow you to decide whether invest in more expensive tomes. They’re well written by leaders in their area, thought-provoking and insightful.” – Mark Greener, Fortean Times

“I absolutely LOVE the VSI series. It’s just so well produced – excellent writing and interesting topics. Just a superb overall series to dive into.” – Grrl Scientist, The Guardian

“I love the Very Short Introduction Series as should everyone who is interested in the history of ideas. They manage to straddle that difficult line between making the complex accessible without ever compromising on quality. The sheer range of subjects covered make the series an invaluable asset for anyone trying to understand the development of human thought. They are a must-go-to gateway for those of us keen to know more but needing a steer as to where to start.” – Claire Fox, Director, Institute of Ideas

“The Oxford University Press VSI series… is to non-fiction what Penguin Books have always been for literature.” – Jim Cullen, History News Network

“Expert, concise but far from bland, Oxford’s Very Short Introductions series must rank by now as a thinking reader’s Wikipedia” – Boyd Tonkin, The Independent

“Great price, beautifully designed and produced, authoritative content and inviting subjects covered – if only all publishing hit these heights.” – The Bookseller

“a fascinating series of ‘all you need to know’ introductions by experts to complex topics.” – The Times

“The Very Short Introductions are fantastically informative books…” – Big Issue in the North

“I am addicted to this series of pocket-portable introductory lectures.” – Guardian Review

“These Very Short Introductions have a style and integrity all of their own.” – Scotsman

“A thoroughly good idea. Snappy, small format … stylish design … perfect to pop in your pocket for spare moments” – The Times

“A series of instantly accessible handbooks that neither shame our ignorance nor frighten us with their erudition. All are to be applauded.” – Oxford Times

“If there’s anything you ever wanted to know more about … grab yourself one of these little beauties.” – Sarky Cutt, Greenwich University

“These perfect books form a solid grounding in various subjects, stretching from the Bible and the Koran, to Social and Cultural Anthropology … interesting, informative and concise, they combine to make a beautiful set. They will broaden your studies, widen your knowledge and maybe give you a chance of winning those pub quizzes once in a while!” – The Beaver, LSE

“Would make a useful addition to any bookshelf, and their size makes them ideal for carrying around” – Humanist Philosophers Group

“Attractively packaged and, very importantly these days… attractively priced. They are the sort of books that can be read in a couple of evenings but repay further study.” – The Philosophers Review

“Always invigorating” – Independent on Sunday

Author Biography

Ken Binmore, Emeritus Professor of Economics, University College London