Scott Boorman

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Scott Archer Boorman (born February 1, 1949) is a mathematical sociologist at Yale University. He earned his B.A in Applied Mathematics from Harvard University. He then received his Ph.D. in Sociology from Harvard University. He is also a graduate of Yale Law School.

In "Protracted Game : A Wei-Ch'i Interpretation of Maoist Revolutionary Strategy," (1971) Boorman systematically explores the similarity between the military strategies of Chinese Communist insurgency and ancient Chinese board game wei-ch’i, or Go (board game) as known in the United States. Boorman also proposes the argument that wei-chi's analysis of a strategic system presents a more sophisticated and flexible form of "game theory" than the traditional game-theoretical models of strategic choice. His book, "Genetics of Altruism" (1980) employs mathematical population genetics to analyze the development of sociality and altruism through three modes of selection: group, kin and reciprocity.