Theory of Games and Economic Behavior by VON NEUMANN, John. & Oskar MORGENSTERN - 1944

Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1944. First edition, first printing. A very good copy, with the rare dust jacket, of Von Neumann and Morgenstern’s groundbreaking text that created the interdisciplinary research field of game theory. “Quantitative mathematical models for games as poker or bridge at one time appeared impossible, since games like these involve free choices by the players at each move, and each move reacts to moves of other players. However, in the 1920s John von Neumann single-handedly invented game theory, introducing the general mathematical concept of ‘strategy’ in a paper on games of chance [Zur Theorie der Gesellschaftsspiele, Math. Ann. 100, 1928]. This contained the proof of his ‘minimax’ theorem that says ‘a strategy exists that guarantees, for each player, a maximum payoff assuming that the adversary acts so as to minimize that payoff.’ The ‘minimax’ principle, a key component of the game-playing computer programs developed in the 1950s and 1960s by Samuel, Newell, Simon, and others, was more fully articulated and explored in ‘The Theory of Games and Economic Behavior’, co-authored by von Neumann and the Austrian economist Oskar Morgenstern. Game theory, which draws upon mathematical logic, set theory and functional analysis, attempts to describe in mathematical terms the decision-making strategies used in games and other competitive situations. … Von Neumann revolutionized mathematical economics. Had he not suffered an early death from cancer in 1957, he most probably would have received the Noble Prize in economics. Several mathematical economists influenced by von Neumann’s ideas [as Nash, Harsanyi and Selten] later received the Nobel Prize in Economics”. (Hook & Norman: Origins of Cyberspace, p.473).<br/><br/>OOC 953 [lacking jacket]; Norman 2167.

8vo: 234 x 155 mm. Original cloth. Rubberstamp to front paste-down and free end-paper of previous owner dated 1947. Dust jacket with some tears and small pieces lost from upper and lower part of spine. xviii 625 [19] pp. Errata sheet loosely inserted, as issued. Clean and fresh throughout. A fine copy.