Oskar Morgenstern - Biography

Oskar Morgenstern (January 24, 1902 – July 26, 1977) was a German-born Austrian-School economist. He, along with John von Neumann, helped found the mathematical field of game theory (see von Neumann–Morgenstern utility theorem).

Morgenstern was born in Görlitz, Germany. His mother was said to be an illegitimate daughter of Emperor Frederick III of Germany.

He was educated in Vienna, and was a recipient of a three year fellowship financed by the Rockefeller Foundation. When Adolf Hitler took over Vienna through the Anschluss, Morgenstern was in the United States and decided it would be a good idea to stay. He became a member of the faculty at Princeton University, but gravitated toward the Institute for Advanced Study. His first book was "Economic Prediction". In 1944, he and von Neumann co-wrote Theory of Games and Economic Behavior, recognized as the first book on game theory. Morgenstern also wrote the book "On the accuracy of economic observations". He applied game theory to business. He died in Princeton, New Jersey, in the United States.

Game theorist Morgenstern dies. Science, Aug.12, 1977; 197: 649.

Bibliography

• Oskar Morgenstern, "Thirteen Critical Points in Contemporary Economic Theory: An Interpretation," Journal of Economic Literature 10, no. 4 (December 1972): 1184

- reprinted in Selected Economic /writings by Oskar Morgenstern, Andrew Schotter, ed. (New York: New York University Press, 1976), p. 288.

• Oskar Morgenstern Papers at Duke University

External links

• The Limits of Economics; William Hodge and Company, London, 1937