Game Theory: A Nontechnical Introduction

by Morton D. Davis

Book Overview

"A lucid and penetrating development of game theory that will appeal to the intuition . . . a most valuable contribution." -- Douglas R. Hofstadter, author of G?del, Escher, Bach
The foundations of game theory were laid by John von Neumann, who in 1928 proved the basic minimax theorem, and with the 1944 publication of the Theory of Games and Economic Behavior, the field was established. Since then, game theory has become an enormously...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0486296725
• ISBN13: 9780486296722
• Release Date: July 1997
• Publisher: Dover Publications
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 2.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.4" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Hubby is learning lots

Got this for hubby for his b-day off his wish list and well he loves it. Says he is learning a lot! Did tell me it was a tough read but still learning from it.

Optimax solution (for me)

This is my "Goldilocks/Babybear" game theory book. Not too hard, not to soft, just right. Without calculus, Davis provides a complete introduction to an arcane but useful mathematical discipline. The Compleat Strategyst: Being a Primer on the Theory of Games of Strategy by Williams was too soft. It used the simplest possible methods to address the concepts being discussed, and barely acknowledged some of the most interesting topics in game theory. Games and Decisions: Introduction and Critical Survey by Luce and Raiffa was good, up until you hit the calculus (pretty quickly in each chapter), after which I have no basis to form an opinion. Davis hits all the important concepts of game theory without resorting to sigma notation or even more occult symbols (unlike Luce and Raiffa). He does, however, require a fairly solid understanding of algebra, (unlike Williams). With this fairly humble prerequisite knowledge, Davis takes the non-mathematician where he or she needs to go, and provides a fairly complete level of understanding. I would recommend this one as a perfect sequel to Williams, should the reader not be challenged, or as a stand-alone for the marginally mathematically literate (such as myself) who need a practical understanding of mathematically grounded decision making. E. M. Van Court

Excellent introduction to Game Theory

Morton D. Davis' 'Game Theory - A Nontechnical Introduction' brilliantly achieves the author's objective of presenting the reader with a concise introduction to game theory, a branch of applied mathematics that deals with decision-making and return maximization. The text is pleasant to read and provides clear, intuitive explanations as well as plenty of examples from several non-related fields such as evolutionary biology, philosophy, military strategy, political science and marketing. Davis starts the book with very simple 2-person, zero-sum games with equilibrium points and progresses to games without equilibrium points, non-zero-sum games, and n-person games. He provides factual examples of game theory in social interactions and political strategy, describes (conceptually, almost without any formula) Nash's bargaining model, Pareto optimization, symmetric games, Rapoport's `Tit-for-Tat' solution to the prisoner's dilemma and ends the book with the von Neumann-Morgenstern and Aumann-Maschler solutions to n-person games and the Shapley-Shubik index of power. What is special about this book is that Davis effectively communicates complex models to non-technical readers in an enjoyable manner. As an improvement from the first edition (1969/1970, with foreword by Oskar Morgenstern) the author now introduces a set of real-life problems at the start of each chapter, and provides the reader with an opportunity to apply intuitive thinking and try to solve them. After being presented with new concepts and models, the reader can compare the new results with the ones found before - this makes the book even friendlier and provides insights on how apparently simple problems can deceive our common sense. Morton D. Davis also wrote `The Art of Decision Making' (ISBN: 038796228X, 1986), `The Math of Money' (ISBN: 0387950788, 2001) and a research paper called `One Equation to Rule Them All' (RAND Corporation research memorandum) about the application of recursive function theory to Hilbert's tenth problem.

Why novices to game theory should start with this book.

For persons new to game theory, but curious or interested in learning more about it, start with this book. It is truly non-technical and written for the non-mathematician. It can provide the foundation for learning the mathematics (if you so desire, but many people only use the logic). This book will reveal what experts know about game theory. Moreover, it can be used to understand the world, including human behavior, economics, international relations, and more recently advances in understanding evolutionary biology. Game theory literally rules the academic world. It also is used by shrewd humans to win at life, the ultimate game.

A must for beginner

This is an extremely well written book. It strikes a good balance between a mere book of giving skin deep introductory knowledge of game theory, and a book with too much technical stuff (esp. mathematical proof). The author made a good job almost like Stephen Hawking and Richard Feyman to explain difficult thing with an easy and friendly way. What's more, the author included also many varies paradoxes, theroms from many great leaders in the game theory's field. In beginning of each chapter, the author listed some questions for the reader to think about, before moving forward. I must say this is a very good book for those who are not very sophisticated and advance in mathematics, or as a very first entry for anyone who wants to pursuit and learn game theory.