Games of Life by Karl Sigmund
Life is often a matter of gambles, pay-offs, and trade-offs, just like a game. This book takes us on a tour through the games and computer simulations that are helping us to understand the ecology, evolution, and behaviour of real life - from cat and mouse to cellular automata, from the battle of the sexes to artificial life, from poker to the prisoner's dilemma. No other book explains so well why scientific observations and insights can be structured as the rules of a survival game, and what happens when they are assembled on a computer or in the mind and allowed to run. With a delightful personal style, the author specifically looks at genetics, population ecology, evolution, and animal behaviour and discusses the often surprising outcomes when the name of the game is life.
'Karl Sigmund's Games of Life is a beautifully written and, considering its relative brevity, amazingly comprehensive survey of past and current thinking in "mathematical" evolutionJust as games (at least, the human variety) are supposed to be fun, so too is Games of Life - the witty section headings, the relaxed style and the clarity of the explanations make the book as enjoyable to read as a Marx Brothers film (to which there is a reference in the book) is to watch.' Times Higher Education Supplement
'I would place Sigmund's book somehwere between good and excellent ... The informal style of the book is brilliant ... the book is a success.' A. Kondrashov, Cornell University, TREE, vol. 9, no. 3, 1994
'an excellent introduction to what theoretical bioliogists get up to in trying to understand evolutionary and ecological ideas' Andrew Pomiankowski, University College, London, Nature, Vol. 370, 1994
'I would place Sigmund's book somehwere between good and excellent ... The informal style of the book is brilliant ... the book is a success.' A. Kondrashov, Cornell University, TREE, vol. 9, no. 3, 1994
'an excellent introduction to what theoretical bioliogists get up to in trying to understand evolutionary and ecological ideas' Andrew Pomiankowski, University College, London, Nature, Vol. 370, 1994
Karl Sigmund is Professor of Mathematics at the University of Vienna.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780198547839 |
| ISBN 10 | 0198547838 |
| Title | Games of Life |
| Author | Karl Sigmund |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press |
| Year published | 1993-09-09 |
| Number of pages | 256 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |