Scott Boorman
Encyclopedia
Scott Archer Boorman is a mathematical sociologist
at Yale University
.
, and was a Harvard Junior Fellow. He received his Ph.D. in Sociology
from Harvard University and was appointed to a full professorship at Penn before moving to Yale. He is also a graduate of Yale Law School
.
, while in fact the game was Wei-Ch'i (also known as Go
).
He systematically explores the similarity between the military strategies of Chinese Communist insurgency and the Chinese board game wei-ch’i, in contrast to parallel U.S. analyses of the same events. Boorman also argues that wei-chi's analysis of a strategic system presents a more sophisticated and flexible form of game theory
than the traditional western models of strategic choice.
His book, Genetics of Altruism (1980) uses mathematical population genetics to analyze the development of sociality and altruism through three modes of selection: group, kin and reciprocity.
Mathematical sociology
Mathematical sociology is the usage of mathematics to construct social theories. Mathematical sociology aims to take sociological theory, which is strong in intuitive content but weak from a formal point of view, and to express it in formal terms...
at Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
.
Life
He earned his B.A. in Applied Mathematics from Harvard UniversityHarvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, and was a Harvard Junior Fellow. He received his Ph.D. in Sociology
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
from Harvard University and was appointed to a full professorship at Penn before moving to Yale. He is also a graduate of Yale Law School
Yale Law School
Yale Law School, or YLS, is the law school of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Established in 1824, it offers the J.D., LL.M., J.S.D. and M.S.L. degrees in law. It also hosts visiting scholars, visiting researchers and a number of legal research centers...
.
Works
While still a teenager, Boorman wrote The Protracted Game : A Wei-Ch'i Interpretation of Maoist Revolutionary Strategyhttp://senseis.xmp.net/?TheProtractedGame (1969), an analysis of the U.S. involvement in Vietnam. He shows that the U.S. thought it was playing ChessChess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
, while in fact the game was Wei-Ch'i (also known as Go
Go (board game)
Go , is an ancient board game for two players that originated in China more than 2,000 years ago...
).
He systematically explores the similarity between the military strategies of Chinese Communist insurgency and the Chinese board game wei-ch’i, in contrast to parallel U.S. analyses of the same events. Boorman also argues that wei-chi's analysis of a strategic system presents a more sophisticated and flexible form of game theory
Game theory
Game theory is a mathematical method for analyzing calculated circumstances, such as in games, where a person’s success is based upon the choices of others...
than the traditional western models of strategic choice.
His book, Genetics of Altruism (1980) uses mathematical population genetics to analyze the development of sociality and altruism through three modes of selection: group, kin and reciprocity.
External links
- Faculty website at Yale
- List of publication
- http://www.zonaeuropa.com/20050605_1.htm -(Quotes a James PinkertonJames PinkertonJames Pinkerton is a columnist, author, and political analyst. A graduate of Peter Vanleslie High School and Stanford University, he served on the White House staff under both Ronald Reagan and George H.W...
editorial invoking The Protracted Game)