NEUMANN, John von (1903-1957) - photo 1
NEUMANN, John von (1903-1957) - photo 2
NEUMANN, John von (1903-1957) - photo 3

NEUMANN, John von (1903-1957)

Lot 231
13.07.2022 10:30UTC +00:00
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£ 16 380
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
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ID 794546
Lot 231 | NEUMANN, John von (1903-1957)
Estimate value
£ 10 000 – 15 000
NEUMANN, John von (1903-1957)

'Zur Theorie der Gesellschaftsspiele.' Offprint from: Mathematische Annalen. Band 100, pp.295-320. Berlin, J. Springer, 1928

Extremely rare offprint of the foundational work on mathematical game theory. 'John von Neumann single-handely invented game theory, introducing the genral mathematical concept of "strategy" in [the present paper which] contained the proof of his famous "minimax" theorem that says "a strategy exists that guarantees, for each player, a maximum payoff assuming that the adversary acts so as to minimize that payoff"' (OOC 953). 'The role as founder is even more obvious for the theory of games, which von Neumann, in a 1926 [sic] paper, conjured - so to speak - out of nowhere ...This [minimax theory] was the starting point for far reaching generalizations, including applications to economics, a topic in which von Neumann became interested in as early as 1937 and that he developed in his major treatise written with O[skar] Morenstern, Theory of Games and Economic behavior (1944). These theories have developed into a full-fledged mathematical discipline, attracting many researchers and branching into several types of applications to the social sciences.' (DSB 14, p.92). Offprints of Von Neumann's 1928 paper are very rare: we have only been able to trave one other at auction (Sotheby's New York, 13 December 2000, lot 111, $23,750; ABPC/RBH). The volume also contains four toher offprints by von Neumann, viz: 'Beweis des Ergodensatzes und des H-Theorems in der neuen Mechanik' from Zeitschrift für Physik, 57, pp.30-70, 1929; 'Allegemeine Eigenwerttheorie Hermitescher Funkionaloperatoren' from: Mathematische Annalen, 102, pp.49-131, 1929; 'Über die analytischen Eigenschaften von Gruppen linearer Transformationen und ihrer Darstellungen' from: Mathematische Zeitschrift, 30, 1-42, 1929; 'Zum Beweise des Minkowskischen Satzes über Linearformen' from: Mathematische Zeitschrift, 30, 1-2, 1929; 'Zur Alegbra der Funktionaloperationen und Theorie der normalen Operatoren' from: Mathematische Annalen, 102, 370-427, 1929.



Bound with 32 other offprints in one volume, octavo (224 x 150mm). Black library half cloth (extremities rubbed, short splits to upper joint at head). Provenance: Hungarian Academy of Sciences (cancelled stamp).





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Place of origin:Western Europe, Germany, Europe
Auction house category:Printed books
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