Description
Book SynopsisPresents the exciting autobiography of Robert Axelrod, one of the most acclaimed and wide-ranging scientists of the last fifty years. Axelrod built a career dedicated to collaborating with business school professors, international relations scholars, political scientists, computer scientists, and even evolutionary biologists and cancer researchers.
Trade Review“Bob Axelrod is among the most creative and influential social scientists of his generation. He has won virtually every major scholarly award in the various fields to which he has contributed and often helped to create. His autobiography gives us a unique inside-out view of how this remarkable mind works.”—Robert D. Putnam, Harvard Kennedy School, author of
Bowling Alone“I was a college student when I first encountered Robert Axelrod’s pathbreaking research on cooperation. It captured my imagination more fully than anything I had seen before, and indeed, more fully than just about anything I have seen since! Robert Axelrod is one of my heroes, so, for me, this book was a blessing. I soaked up its stories and insights. Rarely do I get to the end of a book and wish it would keep going.”—Steven Levitt, University of Chicago, author of
Freakonomics“When you read Bob Axelrod’s autobiography, your first impression is that this is someone you would really like if you knew him, the second that he would be absolutely fascinating to talk to. Fifty years’ acquaintance confirms that both are true. Readers will find here a remarkable, charming, and disarming book.”—Mark Granovetter, Stanford University, author of “The Strength of Weak Ties”
“Professor Robert Axelrod’s works are among the classic textbooks in the field of international politics in China. His achievements have played an important role in the development of China’s international relations. For example, it has raised awareness among policymakers that not all rivalries need be zero-sum.”—Lu Chuanying, Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, author of
China and CybersecurityTable of Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Foreword by Douglas Hofstadter
- Part I. A Splendid Education
- 1. Family, Math, and Competitiveness
- 2. Computers and Modeling
- 3. Culture and More Math at College
- 4. Internships on Statistics, Evolution, and National Security
- 5. Political Science in Graduate School
- Part II. Being There
- 6. Berkeley in a Time of Troubles, 1968-74
- 7. Walking the Interdisciplinary Walk at Michigan, 1974-
- Part III. Cooperation
- 8. Tournaments
- 9. Evolution
- 10. Trench Warfare
- 11. Responses
- Part IV. Self-Organization
- 12. Minimizing the Strangeness of Bedfellows
- 13. Social Polarization
- 14. Belief Systems
- Part V. Sex and Cancer
- 15. The Reason for Sexual Reproduction
- 16. Cancer as Social Dysfunction
- Part VI. Outside the Ivory Tower
- 17. Opposing the Vietnam War
- 18. Trying to Reduce the Risk of War
- 19. Countering Hostile Influence
- Part VII. Concluding Thoughts
- 20. Crossing the Moat
- 21. Looking Forward
- Acknowledgments
- Endnotes
- List of Illustrations Figure 1. In Oval Office, March 6,1961
- Figure 2. The BACH group in the late 1980s
- From left to right: Michael Cohen, Robert Axelrod, William Hamilton, Arthur Burks, John Holland, Rick Riolo, Michael Savageau, Carl Simon.
- Figure 3. Possible Alignments on the Eve of World War II
- Figure 4. Rich Davis, me, Scott Atran, and Safwat Hegazi in Cairo, Oct. 2012
- Figure 5. Receiving the National Medal of Science from President Barack Obama, November 20, 2014
