Essentials of Game Theory
A
Concise, Multidisciplinary Introduction
Kevin Leyton-Brown
University of British Columbia
Yoav Shoham
Stanford University
Morgan & Claypool Publishers, 2008.
Game theory is the mathematical study of interaction among independent, self-interested agents. Its imprint has become quite broad, and beside in economics, its traditional application area, is strongly felt today in disciplines as diverse as computer science, political science, biology, psychology, linguistics, sociology, and electrical engineering, among many others. This book provides a concise and accessible introduction to the field, covering the common basis that any member of this multidisciplinary audience is likely to require. It minimizes notation without sacrificing rigor, and ruthlessly focuses on essentials.
The origin of Essentials of Game Theory is our much longer book, Multiagent Systems: Algorithmic, Game-Theoretic, and Logical Foundations, which covers diverse theories relevant to the broad area of Multiagent Systems within Artificial Intelligence and other areas of Computer Science. Multiagent Systems goes into much more detail about game theory than Essentials (e.g., it includes proofs and additional technical details, as well as broaching new topics such as computation of solution concepts, communication, learning, and compact representation of games). Multiagent Systems also extends beyond game theory to cover distributed problem solving, social choice, mechanism design, auction theory, and logics of knowledge and belief.
- “This introduction is just what a growing multidisciplinary audience
needs: it is concise, authoritative, up to date, and clear on the important
conceptual issues.”
- — Robert Stalnaker, MIT, Linguistics and Philosophy
- “I wish I'd had a comprehensive, clear and rigorous introduction to
the essentials of game theory in under one hundred pages when I was
starting out.”
- — David Parkes, Harvard University, Computer Science
- “Beside being concise and rigorous, Essentials of Game Theory is
also quite comprehensive. It includes the formulations used in most
applications in engineering and the social sciences, and illustrates
the concepts with relevant examples.”
- — Robert Wilson, Stanford University, Graduate School of Business
- “Best short introduction to game theory I have seen! I wish it was
available when I started being interested in the field!”
- — Silvio Micali, MIT, Computer Science
- “Although written by computer scientists, this book serves as a
sophisticated introduction to the main concepts and results of game
theory from which other scientists, including social scientists, can
greatly benefit. In eighty pages, Essentials of Game Theory formally
defines key concepts, illustrated with apt examples, in both cooperative
and noncooperative game theory.”
- — Steven Brams, New York University, Political Science
- “This book will appeal to readers who do not necessarily hail from
economics, and who want a quick grasp of the fascinating field of game
theory. The main categories of games are introduced in a lucid way and
the relevant concepts are clearly defined, with the underlying
intuitions always provided.”
- — Krzysztof Apt, University of Amsterdam, Institute for Logic, Language and Computation
- “To a large extent, modern behavioral ecology and behavioral
economics are studied in the framework of game theory. Students and
faculty alike will find this concise, rigorous and clear introduction to
the main ideas in game theory immensely valuable.”
- — Marcus Feldman, Stanford University, Biology
- “This unique book is today the best short technical introduction to
game theory. Accessible to a broad audience, it will prove invaluable in
artificial intelligence, more generally in computer science, and indeed
beyond.”
- — Moshe Tennenholtz, Technion, Industrial Engineering and Management
- “Excerpted from a much-anticipated, cross-disciplinary book on
multiagent systems, this terse, incisive and transparent book is the
ideal introduction to the key concepts and methods of game theory for
researchers in several fields, including artificial intelligence,
networking, and algorithms.”
- — Vijay Vazirani, Georgia Institute of Technology, Computer Science
- “The authors admirably achieve their aim of providing a scientist or
engineer with the essentials of game theory in a text that is rigorous,
readable and concise.”
- — Frank Kelly, University of Cambridge, Statistical Laboratory