The Compleat Strategyst being a primer on the theory of games of strategy

New Your: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1966. Revised Edition. Hardcover. Good. Charles Satterfield. xvi, 268, [2] pages. Illustrations. Originally published by RAND in 1954. Contains a Preface to the Revised Edition and the Preface to the First Edition. Appendix. Index. Cover has minor wear and soiling. Minor endpaper soiling. John D. Williams was a member of the research council of the RAND Corporation in Santa Monica and an astronomer and mathematician. The Rand Corporation is a private, nonprofit, Government-supported research institution that studies space age defense problems for the Air Force. Mr. Williams studied at the Universities of Arizona and Pennsylvania and at Princeton University. He began his professional career at the Steward Observatory in Tucson, Ariz., as an astronomer, with interests in meteors, extragalactic nebulae and the determination of stellar diameters. His mathematical interests were in statistics and the theory of games. A magazine once described Mr. Williams as "a former astronomer and pool shark." His Book, "The Compleat Strategyst: Being a Primer of the Theory of Games and Strategy," was published in 1954 and translated into French, Swedish, Russian and German. When J. D. Williams wrote this entertaining, witty introduction for the nonscientist, game theory was still a somewhat mysterious subject familiar to very few scientists beyond those researchers, like himself, working for the military. Now, many years after its original publication as a Rand Corporation research study, his light-hearted though thoroughly effective primer is the recognized classic introduction to an increasingly applicable discipline. Used by amateurs, professionals, and students throughout the world in the classroom, on the job, and for personal amusement, the book has been through multiple printings, and has been translated into at least five languages (including Russian and Japanese). Revised and updated The Compleat Strategyst is a highly entertaining text essential for anyone interested in this provocative and engaging area of modern mathematics. In fully illustrated chapters complete with everyday examples and word problems, Williams offers readers a working understanding of the possible methods for selecting strategies in a variety of situations, simple to complex. With just a basic understanding of arithmetic, anyone can grasp all necessary aspects of two-, three-, four-, and larger strategy games with two or more sets of inimical interests and a limitless array of zero-sum payoffs. As research and study continues not only in this new discipline but in the related areas of statistics, probability and behavioral science, understanding of games, decision making, and the development of strategies will be increasingly important. In the areas of economics, sociology, politics, and the military, game theory is sure to have an even wider impact. For students and amateurs fascinated by game theory's implications there is no better, immediately applicable, or more entertaining introduction to the subject than this engaging text by the late J. D. Williams, Professor of Mathematics at Princeton University and a member of the Research Council of The Rand Corporation.