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Glossary of game theory terms.

von Neumann, John

John von Neumann
Coauthor of Theory of Games and Economic Behavior (1944) with Oskar Morgenstern, widely recognized as the first formal treatment of game theory. These concepts grew out of von Neumann's earlier work on the minimax theorem and on backward induction, and were later generalized by John Nash.

von Neumann was a faculty member at Princeton University from 1930, and at its Institute for Advanced Study, from its founding in 1933. His contributions extended well beyond economics. He is credited with notable advances in computer science and quantum mechanics.

"If people do not believe that mathematics is simple, it is only because they do not realize how complicated life is." -JvN

updated: 26 December 2006 (previous version)
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