Description

‘Fresh, clever and playful . . . an absorbing book’ MATT RIDLEY, AUTHOR OF THE ORIGINS OF VIRTUE

‘A wonderful book’ YOAV SHOHAM, STANFORD UNIVERSITY

‘Michael explains the complex, strategic structures of our world with masterful beauty’ – MILIND TAMBE, HARVARD UNIVERSITY

‘Effortlessly covers a broad swath of core ideas in game theory, with a sprinkle of British humour’ – EDITH ELKIND, NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY

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A fascinating deep-dive into game theory, its history and its practical applications by award-winning expert on computer science and artificial intelligence.

Most of us have some idea about game theory. Concepts like zero-sum games and the prisoner’s dilemma crop up in films, novels and casual conversation, often as shorthand for cut-throat competition or inevitable betrayal. But game theory, the science behind these ideas, is widely misunderstood. All too often it’s seen solely as the science of conflict and greed. In fact, this field has a lot to teach us about how to make a better world. It shows us just what it takes to enable cooperation and mutual benefit.

This essential primer presents twenty one ‘life lessons from game theory’, which illustrate the key ideas in the field, and which are packed with real world examples: from overfishing in the Atlantic; to the Cuban Missile Crisis; to security measures at international airports; to advertising wars between major brands. This is a hopeful and practical book that highlights the value of game theory and provides a course correction for its integration into the real world.

Publisher Review

This book is simply brilliant. Tackling challenging ideas with great clarity and wit, Wooldridge shows that careful analysis of apparently simple games can help us understand momentous world events. I learned so much from reading it (including that my intuition is hopeless). * Sir David Spiegelhalter, Emeritus Professor of Statistics at the University of Cambridge * In Life Lessons from Game Theory, Michael Wooldridge achieves the near-impossible: he explains the complex, strategic structures of our world with masterful beauty and simplicity of writing that is rare for such a deeply researched work. This book is indeed an essential guide for newcomers and even for experts to get a grasp of game theory and it is truly a brilliant contribution to the field. * MILIND TAMBE, Gordon McKay Professor of Computer Science at Harvard University * This very readable book effortlessly covers a broad swath of core ideas in game theory, with a sprinkle of British humour. * EDITH ELKIND, Ginny Rometty Professor of Computer Science at Northwestern University * People presenting game theory tend to fall into one of two camps. The one delves into its rather involved technical details, rendering it inaccessible to a broad public. The other offers lessons from of game theory in a way that doesn’t make contact with the actual theory. Wooldridge’s wonderful book does neither. It extracts key elements of game (and social choice) theory, presents them faithfully and yet accessibly, and describes their implications to real life in common sense terms. * YOAV SHOHAM, Emeritus Professor of Computer Science at Stanford University * There is no perfect strategy in life because it depends on what other people do. That’s the insight – and the challenge – of game theory, one of logic’s most fascinating disciplines. Michael Wooldridge’s life lessons from game theory are fresh, clever and playful. An absorbing book. * Matt Ridley, author of THE ORIGINS OF VIRTUE and BIRDS, SEX AND BEAUTY *