On Numbers and Games [Hardcover]

ONAG, as the book is commonly known, is one of those rare publications that sprang to life in a moment of creative energy and has remained influential for over a quarter of a century. Originally written to define the relation between the theories of transfinite numbers and mathematical games, the resulting work is a mathematically sophisticated but eminently enjoyable guide to game theory. By defining numbers as the strengths of positions in certain games, the author arrives at a new class, the surreal numbers, that includes both real numbers and ordinal numbers. These surreal numbers are applied in the author's mathematical analysis of game strategies. The additions to the Second Edition present recent developments in the area of mathematical game theory, with a concentration on surreal numbers and the additive theory of partizan games.

Originally written to define the relation between the theories of transfinite numbers and mathematical games, the resulting work is a mathematically sophisticated but eminently enjoyable guide to game theory. By defining numbers as the strengths of positions in certain games, the author arrives at a new class that includes both real numbers and ordinal numbers: surreal numbers. The second edition presents developments in mathematical game theory, focusing on surreal numbers and the additive theory of partizan games.

Prologue, Preface, Zeroth Part . . . On Numbers Chapter 0: All Numbers Great and Small Chapter 1: The Class No is a Field Chapter 2: The Real and Ordinal Numbers Chapter 3: The Structure of the General Surreal Number Chapter 4: Algebra and Analysis of Numbers Chapter 5: Number Theory in the Land of Oz Chapter 6: The Curious Field On2 First Part... and Games Chapter 7: Playing Several Games at Once Chapter 8: Some Games are Already Numbers Chapter 9: On Games and Numbers Chapter 10: Simplifying Games Chapter 11: Impartial Games and the Game of Nim Chapter 12: How to Lose when you Must Chapter 13: AnlC}