Theory of Games and Economic Behavior (Hardcover)

by John von Neumann (Author), Oskar Morgenstern (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review
The main achievement of the book lies, more than in its concrete results, in its having introduced into economics the tools of modern logic and in using them with an astounding power of generalization. -- Review --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review
Posterity may regard this book as one of the major scientific achievements of the first half of the twentieth century. This will undoubtedly be the case if the authors have succeeded in establishing a new exact science--the science of economics. The foundation which they have laid is extremely promising. (The Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society )

One cannot but admire the audacity of vision, the perseverance in details, and the depth of thought displayed in almost every page of the book. . . . The appearance of a book of [this] calibre . . . is indeed a rare event. (The American Economic Review )

The main achievement of the book lies, more than in its concrete results, in its having introduced into economics the tools of modern logic and in using them with an astounding power of generalization. (The Journal of Political Economy ) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 648 pages
• Publisher: Princeton University Press; 3 edition (December 1980)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0691041830
• ISBN-13: 978-0691041834
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,424,477 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

97 of 102 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Landmark work but heavy going, August 23, 2000

By	Mark (Ottawa, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Theory of Games and Economic Behavior (Paperback)

I'm not even sure I'm qualified to pass judgement on this book, but what I understand, I give 5 stars without hesitation. The authors discuss almost every class of game (2-person, 3-person, zero-sum, non-zero-sum, etc.) and even a very simplified version of poker.

You basically have to be a mathematician to get full value from this book. This book is absolutely full of equations and complex proofs. For a beginner with little math, I'd recommend Game Theory by Morton Davis, or for someone with some university math I'd recommend Games and Decisions by Luce and Raiffa. However, if your math is good, you might as well go straight to this book, which started the whole field of game theory.

76 of 80 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars An Obvious Classic But . . ., October 22, 2002

By	Kurt C. Yost "Pandaemoni" (New York) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Theory of Games and Economic Behavior (Paperback)

Let me start out by acknowledging that this is THE BOOK that started Game Theory as it exists today. While Bayesian statistics are an obvious precursor, everyone agrees that von Neumann's and Morgenstern's work was ground breaking.

That said, this is not the best written Game Theory text out there. Like all seminal works, it suffers from the basic fact that we've learned a lot of new things since the time it was written. Many people have gone on to build and expand on the insights contained in this book, especially in the area of bargaining and cooperative game theory.

This is a very impressive book to keep on your shelf, and the discussion of poker and the role of bluffing is very interesting, but, owing largely to the 60+ years that have passed since its initial publication, it's not the best reference work or study material available.

Another word of warning: The review below is correct that the level of math that you must understand to fully appreciate this book is quite substantial. This book is more for the mathematically sophisticated who want to develop an appreciation for the origins of game theory.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars revolutionary, May 8, 2008

By	Kyle Frazer (Steamboat springs, CO USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Theory of Games and Economic Behavior (Commemorative Edition) (Princeton Classic Editions) (Paperback)

This book is a must for high level math or econ. majors. To truly understand all the math you need advanced calculus, but the book is still worth while if you only have a basic knowledge of math. The work von Neumann did was revolutionary, with game theory being a joke before this work. You should read it.