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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Besides Einstein, von Neumann was in the presence of such great thinkers as ____ at the IAS.

2. John von Neumann was from a family of ___ Jews.

3. As mentioned in Chapter 6, which two colleagues agreed to play the experimental prisoner's dilemmas?

4. In the divide the cake game the chooser seeks to minimize the ___ piece of cake the cutter will receive.

5. Who had John Stuart Mill briefly as a tutor?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is a minimax solution and saddle points?

2. Who originally suggested the RAND corporation and for what purpose?

3. Besides all his work on the Manhattan Project, von Neumann also found time to help IBM. How did he help this company?

4. What were the results of Flood's experimental prisoner's dilemmas?

5. What was the Manhattan Project?

6. What was the Princeton social scene like while von Neumann was at IAS?

7. Why did Bertrand Russell suggest and believe in the merits of preemptive nuclear war?

8. Who is Bertrand Russell?

9. What is prisoner's dilemma?

10. What is game theory according to Chapter 1 of "Prisoner's Dilemma?"

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Chicken has two Nash equilibrium points. What are they? Why does an irrational player have an advantage in a game of chicken? Explain the game of chicken in its simplest form on a highway and as Bertrand Russell presented it in relation to nuclear war. Which of the two strategies in the game of chicken has the maximum minimum? How was this strategy used in the Cuban Missile Crisis?

Essay Topic 2

What is Kriegspiel and where does it fit in the game theory arena in connection with how and when it was developed? How it was used and by whom? What were some of the social, political and military implications of this game?

Essay Topic 3

In the 1980s game theory took an unexpected turn and evolutionary game theory was born. How did this happen? What was the logic behind the development of this theory? Aspects of what disciplines were used to create this evolutionary model? How did Robert Axelrod introduce a strategy based in human psychology to the traditional problem found in game theory?

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