-
Seasonal Offer:
This title is part of our Seasonal Offers promotion.
Game Theory: A Very Short Introduction
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle .
Learn more
| |||||||||||||||
 Trade In this Item for up to £0.25
Get an extra £5 when you trade in books worth £10 or more until June 30, 2012. Trade in Game Theory: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions) for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £0.25, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Find more products eligible for trade-in.
|
Special Offers and Product Promotions
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
Games are everywhere: Drivers manoeuvring in heavy traffic are playing a driving game. Bargain hunters bidding on eBay are playing an auctioning game. A firm negotiating next year's wage is playing a bargaining game. The opposing candidates in an election are playing a political game. The supermarket's price for corn flakes is decided by playing an economic game. Game theory is about how to play such games in a rational way. Even when the players have not thought everything out in advance, game theory often works for the same reason that mindless animals sometimes end up behaving very cleverly: evolutionary forces eliminate irrational play because it is unfit. Game theory has seen spectacular successes in evolutionary biology and economics, and is beginning to revolutionize other disciplines from psychology to political science. This Very Short Introduction introduces the fascinating world of game theory, showing how it can be understood without mathematical equations, and revealing that everything from how to play poker optimally to the sex ratio among bees can be understood by anyone willing to think seriously about the problem.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I bought this book because I am curious about the field, but a dozen pages in and I was worse than lost. All of the games are only briefly mentioned, never clearly explained and the implications are never discussed. The author spends more time attacking opponents of game theory and bragging about his successes in using it than teaching the reader about the topic.
I enjoy this series of books because they allow access and understanding of the basics of subject which are otherwise difficult to understand. This book is the exception to that and seems to enjoy its impenetrability, I am still no wiser to the basics of game theory and will consider buying introductions by other publishers in future.
I enjoy this series of books because they allow access and understanding of the basics of subject which are otherwise difficult to understand. This book is the exception to that and seems to enjoy its impenetrability, I am still no wiser to the basics of game theory and will consider buying introductions by other publishers in future.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The book took me probably two or three attempts to 'get into' it. It was hard going at times, and a number of times i had to get a pencil and paper out to work through and make sure that i deeply understood the text. That said, the quality of the what's written is, i have no doubt, precise (in a mathematical context) and once you get used to the way Binmore writes is good. (although i understand that's a big ask)
Despite being hard going at times, it also had it's moments of absolute clarity. He goes through a broad range of topics: What a 'game' is in a mathematical sense; effect of chance, time, repeated games and the effect that has on players perception of strategy; Information, and what players can learn about the other players based on what they do; Auctions; Evolutionary Biology (very interesting), and how game theory can accurately predict/explain why animals do some actions, or why people are altruistic or why people would put themselves in harms way to save others. Bargaining and coalitions (not my personal favourite) and a short section on puzzles and paradoxes at the end, which it thought was a nice way to round off a book like this.
As the book goes, Binmore also give the reader a history of game theory, so that they can appreciate the development of this branch of mathematics. I enjoyed this as it meant that i could piece together how this reletively new branch came into being and how its developed to today.
For me the major downside of some of this book is the way that it has been explained in a non-intuitive way, and some of it really does make to struggle and want to throw the book as hard as you can across the room and scream. However, like most pieces of mathematics, if you work at it and follow the reasoning through, you see why it has been written in such a convoluted way - precision. Some people might not like the idea that you have to 'work' with this book and to a point I agree, but this book isn't called "Game Theory; In simple terms" it's called "Game Theory: A Very Short Introduction" it's there to introduce you to it and to get a good grasp of the subject you'll have to work with it. And if you do, i'm sure you'll love it.
:)
Despite being hard going at times, it also had it's moments of absolute clarity. He goes through a broad range of topics: What a 'game' is in a mathematical sense; effect of chance, time, repeated games and the effect that has on players perception of strategy; Information, and what players can learn about the other players based on what they do; Auctions; Evolutionary Biology (very interesting), and how game theory can accurately predict/explain why animals do some actions, or why people are altruistic or why people would put themselves in harms way to save others. Bargaining and coalitions (not my personal favourite) and a short section on puzzles and paradoxes at the end, which it thought was a nice way to round off a book like this.
As the book goes, Binmore also give the reader a history of game theory, so that they can appreciate the development of this branch of mathematics. I enjoyed this as it meant that i could piece together how this reletively new branch came into being and how its developed to today.
For me the major downside of some of this book is the way that it has been explained in a non-intuitive way, and some of it really does make to struggle and want to throw the book as hard as you can across the room and scream. However, like most pieces of mathematics, if you work at it and follow the reasoning through, you see why it has been written in such a convoluted way - precision. Some people might not like the idea that you have to 'work' with this book and to a point I agree, but this book isn't called "Game Theory; In simple terms" it's called "Game Theory: A Very Short Introduction" it's there to introduce you to it and to get a good grasp of the subject you'll have to work with it. And if you do, i'm sure you'll love it.
:)
37 of 45 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is my first text on Game Theory after reading a small section on it in another book. My IQ is MENSA tested & eligible for membership, i have a first class engineering degree & professional engineering qualifications. Binmore is indeed over-confident, however I can forgive that, it is not a limiting factor. The text is indeed very difficult and very poorly written, and by the end of the first few pages, the huge gaps in explanation render the book little more than useless. The first chapter starts with some simple games, however the lack of detailed explanation of their construction & outcome begs the question what is this book for? The Driver Game lacks deconstruction, the Chicken Game gets worse and after that, the lack of a basic explanation of the concepts prevents any further understanding. I would certainly not recommend this book to anyone. I would have thought it better that the author make crystal clear the basics in a layman's book, rather than hitting the reader with hardcore theory. A very, very poor book and certainly not for the layman.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Difficult read but very interesting and rewarding
I think it is unfair how people slam this book because it is too hard; if you have genuine interest in the subject, then you should be able to carry on reading even though the... Read more
Published 1 month ago by The_Z_
A very short by far from easy introduction
As some reviewers pointed out, there are some challenges in this book due to some of the diagrams being wrong and the text sometimes being difficult to understand. Read more
Published 5 months ago by A reader
Introduction to GAME THEORY
In my opinion, as well any "A short introduction to..." books, they kill the joy out of the subject. I found it mundane. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Marcus
Fails to live up to the title
I tried to like this book but it basically fails to do its job. He writes quite well but to put it simply it is useless as an introduction to game theory. Read more
Published 18 months ago by The Emperor
Hard
This is not a 'dreadful' or 'impenetrable' book, as some of the previous reviewers have noted. The author is a widely respected ecomonist and academic, and as such we can take it... Read more
Published 18 months ago by T. Blackburn
not for the novice
Imho this book does not teach you game theory unless you already have some basic knowledge of the discipline. Read more
Published on 3 Aug 2009 by Guy
It says very short introduction folks
The value of this book is that it covers the waterfront and enables you to home in on an area of particular interest by looking for a more detailed text armed with the right terms... Read more
Published on 20 Jun 2009 by Mr. R. P. Fox
Impenetrable!
I agree with (at the time of writing) all bar one of the reviewers so far - this book is impenetrable! It might be a Very Short Introduction, but that doesn't mean useful.
Published on 24 Oct 2008 by I. Dillingham
Dreadful book
I agree with those who rated this book poor. The author not only assumes too much of his readers' ability levels, he assumes they know things only he could know; he misses things... Read more
Published on 15 April 2008 by Mr. Robert Slack
An Ideal Introduction to Game Theory for the General Reader
*Brilliant, brilliant!
This is a marvellous book in a series which is fairly uneven and appears to have little editorial oversight, but the author has no need of an... Read more
This is a marvellous book in a series which is fairly uneven and appears to have little editorial oversight, but the author has no need of an... Read more
Published on 31 Dec 2007 by bm1729
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
- Books > Business, Finance & Law > Economics
- Books > Science & Nature > Mathematics > Optimisation > Game Theory
- Books > Science & Nature > Mathematics > Popular Maths
- Books > Science & Nature > Popular Science > Maths
- Books > Scientific, Technical & Medical
- Books > Society, Politics & Philosophy > Academic Philosophy
- Books > Society, Politics & Philosophy > Philosophy
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
