| In 1984, Robert Axelrod reported the results of two iterated prisoner's dilemma (IPD) competitions [Axelrod (1984)]. The booked was to be a catalyst for much of the research in this area since that time. It is unlikely that you would write a scientific paper about IPD, without citing Axelrod's 1984 book. The book is even more remarkable in that it is just as accessible to a general audience, as well as being an important source of inspiration for the scientific community.
In 2001, whilst attending the Congress on Evolutionary Computation (CEC) conference, we were discussing some of the presentations we had seen which reported recent some of the latest work on the iterated prisoner's dilemma. We were paying tribute to the fact that Axelrod's book had stood the test of time when somebody made a casual comment suggesting that we should re-run the competition in 2004, to celebrate the 20th anniversary. And, so, this book was born.
Of course, since the conversation in Hawaii and the publication of this book, there have been a lot of people doing a lot of work. Not least of all Robert Axelrod who was good enough to give up his time to present a plenary talk at the CEC conference in 2004. At that talk he presented his latest work which is investigating evolution on a grid based world. |
