Game Theory

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss game theory, the mathematical study of decision-making. First formulated in the 1940s, the discipline entails devising ‘games’ to simulate situations of conflict or cooperation. It allows researchers to unravel decision-making strategies, and even to establish why certain types of behaviour emerge. Some of the games studied in game theory have become well known outside academia - they include the Prisoner’s Dilemma, an intriguing scenario popularised in novels and films, and which has inspired television game shows. Today game theory is seen as a vital tool in such diverse fields as evolutionary biology, economics, computing and philosophy.

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Guests

• Ian Stewart 15 episodes
  Emeritus Professor of Mathematics at the University of Warwick
• Andrew Colman No other episodes
  Professor of Psychology at the University of Leicester
• Richard Bradley 2 episodes
  Professor of Philosophy at the London School of Economics and Political Science

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Programme ID: b01h75xp

Episode page: bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01h75xp

Auto-category: 510 (Mathematics)