Brian Clegg has always been fascinated by Isaac Asimov's Foundation series of books, which predicts the future using advanced mathematical models of human psychology and behavior. He later realized that Asimov's psychohistory has a real counterpart: game theory.

Game theory emerged from the study of probability distribution games that depend on a random factor - the roll of a die or the flip of a coin - and soon began to be applied to human interactions: what was the best strategy to win, no matter what you did?

Its mathematical techniques have been applied, with varying degrees of wisdom, in fields such as economics, evolution, and questions like how to win a nuclear war. Clegg explores the colorful history and significant findings of game theory and shows what we can all learn from this often misunderstood field of study.