The principles of game theory apply to a wide range of topics in
biology. This book presents the central concepts in evolutionary game
theory and provides an authoritative and up-to-date account. The focus
is on concepts that are important for biologists in their attempts to
explain observations. This strong connection between concepts and
applications is a recurrent theme throughout the book which incorporates
recent and traditional ideas from animal psychology, neuroscience, and
machine learning that provide a mechanistic basis for behaviours shown
by players of a game. The approaches taken to modelling games often rest
on idealized and unrealistic assumptions whose limitations and
consequences are not always appreciated. The authors provide a novel
reassessment of the field, highlighting how to overcome limitations and
identifying future directions.
Game Theory in Biology is an advanced textbook suitable for graduate
level students as well as professional researchers (both empiricists and
theoreticians) in the fields of behavioural ecology and evolutionary
biology. It will also be of relevance to a broader interdisciplinary
audience including psychologists and neuroscientists.