In this Very Short Introduction, Jacqueline Stedall explores the rich historical and cultural diversity of mathematical endeavour from the distant past to the present day, using illustrative case studies drawn from a range of times and places; including early imperial China, the medieval Islamic world, and nineteenth-century Britain--

"Global threats of terrorism, drug-smuggling and other crimes have led to a significant increase in research on game theory for security. Game theory provides a sound mathematical approach to deploy limited security resources to maximize their effectiveness. A typical approach is to randomize security schedules to avoid predictability, with the randomization using artificial intelligence techniques to take into account the importance of different targets and potential adversary reactions. This book distills the forefront of this research to provide the first and only study of long-term deployed applications of game theory for security for key organizations such as the Los Angeles International Airport police and the US Federal Air Marshals Service. The author and his research group draw from their extensive experience working with security officials to intelligently allocate limited security resources to protect targets, outlining the applications of these algorithms in research and the real world"--

Originally presented as the author's dissertation (doctoral)--Delft University of Technology, 2012. "Dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the Board for Doctorates of Delft University of Technology and of the Academic Board of UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education for the degree of Doctor to be defended in public on Tuesday, 24 Januaryy 2012 at 12:30 hours in Delft, The Netherlands."