Prisoner's Dilemma by William Poundstone, Paperback, 9780385415804 | Buy online at The Nile
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Prisoner's Dilemma

John Von Neumann, Game Theory and the Puzzle of the Bomb

Author: William Poundstone  

Prisoner's Dilemma
Paperback

John von Neumann invented the digital computer, played a key role in the development of the atom bomb, constructed a branch of mathematics known as game theory, and became a defender of a movement to bomb the Russians before they could bomb us. Now comes a biography of this controversial genius and an exploration of his greatest idea--one that nearly triggered a nuclear war in 1950. Photographs.

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PRODUCT INFORMATION

Summary

John von Neumann invented the digital computer, played a key role in the development of the atom bomb, constructed a branch of mathematics known as game theory, and became a defender of a movement to bomb the Russians before they could bomb us. Now comes a biography of this controversial genius and an exploration of his greatest idea--one that nearly triggered a nuclear war in 1950. Photographs.

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Description

Poundstone's three dimensional outline of game theory mathematics sketches the life of its inventor, John von Neumann, and his role in cold war policy making. There are also interesting descriptions of Neumann's childhood in the anti semitic environment of pre-WWII Hungary and his early conversion to Catholicism. It is to Neumann that we owe much of the terminology (MAD, first strike) that framed the discourse of the Cold War. This book is both frightening and essential for scholars of the Cold War, and a testament to a wayward and arrogant, mathematical genius.

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Critic Reviews

“"Both a fascinating biography of von Neumann, the Hungarian exile whose mathematical theories were building blocks for the A-bomb and the digital computer, and a brilliant social history of game theory and its role in the Cold War and nuclear arms race."--San Francisco Chronicle”

"Both a fascinating biography of von Neumann, the Hungarian exile whose mathematical theories were building blocks for the A-bomb and the digital computer, and a brilliant social history of game theory and its role in the Cold War and nuclear arms race." —San Francisco Chronicle

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About the Author

WILLIAM POUNDSTONE studied physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is the author of The Recursive Universe, about information theory and physics, and Labyrinths of Reason, an exploration of paradox in science. He is also known as the author of such popular books as Big Secrets, The Ultimate, and Prisoner’s Dilemma. He has written for Esquire, Harper’s, SPY, and other periodicals. He lives in Los Angeles.

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Product Details

Publisher
Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group Inc | Anchor Books
Published
1st January 1993
Pages
320
ISBN
9780385415804

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