John Nash

Paper Summary:

This paper looks at the life of John Nash, born June 13, 1928 who went on to win the Nobel prize for economics. It discusses his childhood, education and career and some of his theories such as the Nash Equilibrium and game theory.

From the Paper:

"Many economists may not realize that John Nash was one of the first people to become involved in laboratory experiments. One of these experiments, conducted more than fifty years ago, was inspired by his second great accomplishment: "the definition and existence proof for Nash equilibrium." This experiment was conducted at the RAND Corporation in Santa Monica, California, on the same day that the two mathematicians who designed it heard about the surprising theorem that had been proved by a young graduate student on the other coast. Because Nash later ran his own experiments, Charles Holt once asked him what he thought of this methodology. Nash replied, "Experimental economics is the ultimate truth. Anyone can write down a theory and just say it is true."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Game Theory. Retrieved February 07 2006 from: http://cepa.newschool.edu/het/schools/game.htm
• Nash, John F. John F. Nash, Jr. Autobiography. Retrieved February 07 2006 from: http://nobelprize.org/economics/laureates/1994/nash-autobio.html
• O'Connor, J.J.; Robertson, E.F. John Forbes Nash. Retrieved February 07 2006 from: http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Nash.html
• Herbert, Wary. 1998 August 10. Fearsome madness: schizophrenia remains frustratingly hard to control. U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved February 07 2006 from HighBeam Research Library Web site.
• Holt, Charles A. 2002 July 01. John F. Nash, Jr.: introduction and postscript. Southern Economic Journal. Retrieved February 07 2006 from HighBeam Research Library Web site.

More papers on John Nash:

• Comparison Essay # 23221 : "Anais Nin and John Nash; the Social Nature of Acceptance and Success"
• Case Study # 31412 : "A Case study in Schizophrenia: John Nash"
• Analytical Essay # 29589 : "A Beautiful Mind" and John Nash"

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