ABSTRACT
While game-theoretic thinking goes back to ancient times, modern game theory began with the 1928 paper [46] published by a 25-year-old mathematician named John von Neumann. In this paper, von Neumann showed that each player in a two-person zero-sum game has an optimal mixed equilibrium strategy (Theorems 15.6 and 15.11). Von Neumann went on to become one of the most influential mathematicians of his time. After immigrating from Europe in 1930, he was a founding member (along with Albert Einstein) of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. He is also known for his work in quantum physics and as one of the inventors of the modern computer. In 1943, von Neumann coauthored the book The Theory of Games and Economic Behavior, with economist Oskar Morgenstern [47], which brought game theory to the attention of the world. The Scenario in Chapter 15 comes from this book.
