Von Neumann, Morgenstern, and the Creation of Game Theory: From Chess to Social Science, 19001960 [Paperback]

A reconstruction of the creation of game theory in the twentieth century by John von Neumann and Oskar Morgenstern.This book is about the creation of game theory in the first half of the twentieth century by John von Neumann and Oskar Morgenstern. A dramatic reconstruction shows how game theory was related to debates in economics and mathematics, the social and political upheaval of the period, and the dramatic personal histories of its two architects.This book is about the creation of game theory in the first half of the twentieth century by John von Neumann and Oskar Morgenstern. A dramatic reconstruction shows how game theory was related to debates in economics and mathematics, the social and political upheaval of the period, and the dramatic personal histories of its two architects.Drawing on a wealth of new archival material, including personal correspondence and diaries, Robert Leonard tells the fascinating story of the creation of game theory by Hungarian Jewish mathematician John von Neumann and Austrian economist Oskar Morgenstern. Game theory first emerged amid discussions of the psychology and mathematics of chess in Germany and fin-de-si?cle Austro-Hungary. In the 1930s, on the cusp of anti-Semitism and political upheaval, it was developed by von Neumann into an ambitious theory of social organization. It was shaped still further by its use in combat analysis in World War II and during the Cold War. Interweaving accounts of the periods economics, science, and mathematics, and drawing sensitively on the private lives of von Neumann and Morgenstern, Robert Leonard provides a detailed reconstruction of a complex historical drama.Introduction; Part I. Struggle and Equilibrium: From Lasker to von Neumann: 1. 'The strangest states of mind': chess, psychology and Emanuel Lasker's Kampf; 2. 'Deeply rooted yet alien': Hungarian Jews and mathematicians; 3. From Budapest to G?ttingen: an apprenticeship in modern mathematics; 4. 'The futile search for the perfect lc8