num_pages: 352
description: Brilliantly entertaining Dr. Strangeloves Game will do for economics what Sophies World did for philosophy and Emc2 for physics.With the infectious enthusiasm of a great teacher and a novelists eye for a colourful parade of often bizarre and idiosyncratic figures Paul Strathern gives us a vivid account of the world of economics through the lives and minds of those who contributed to the growth of economic thought from the Middle Ages to the present.The familiar and iconic names  Adam Smith Karl Marx and John Maynard Keynes  turn out to be fascinating characters as do a host of lesser-known figures  from Luca Pacioli a medieval monk who used a ball game to stimulate thought about probability theory (and gambling) to John von Neumann the manic genius who invented game theory worked on the atomic bomb and was probably the model for Kubricks Dr. Strangelove. There are pessimistic priests visionary socialists crackpot academics and an alleged murderer who controlled Frances finances.Paul Strathern sets their lives and thoughts against the dramatic backdrop of great events  the South Sea Bubble the French Revolution the Russian Revolution and the Great Crash. His lightly worn erudition makes Dr. Strangeloves Game amazingly accessible leaving readers enriched and enlightened.From the Hardcover edition.
language: English
title: Dr. Strangelove's Game: A Brief History of Economic Genius
publisher: Vintage Canada