Using game theory and examples of actual games people play, Nobel
laureate Manfred Eigen and Ruthild Winkler show how the elements of
chance and rules underlie all that happens in the universe, from genetic
behavior through economic growth to the composition of music.
To illustrate their argument, the authors turn to classic
games--backgammon, bridge, and chess--and relate them to physical,
biological, and social applications of probability theory and number
theory. Further, they have invented, and present here, more than a dozen
playable games derived from scientific models for equilibrium,
selection, growth, and even the composition of RNA.