Susan Skeath van Mulbregt provides a brief introduction to some of the basic ideas and concepts in the field of game theory and highlights several examples and applications to common social, political, and economic interactions.

Game theory has been much in the news in the last decade, from the awarding of the Nobel Prize in economics to John Nash, Jr. in 1994 through and beyond 2002 when “A Beautiful Mind,” which portrays the life of Nash, won the Academy Award for Best Picture. Although early game theory was applied primarily to situations of military strategy, many applications arise in our everyday lives.