This is the fourth edition of one of my favorite books. It consists of lectures by Nobel Laureates, each of whom was asked to describe the development of their principal contribution to economics and to do so in language accessible to a lay audience. One of these laureates, George Stigler, is famous for denying the relevance of biography to intellectual history. Every page of this book refutes his thesis. Reading it teaches us more about what makes economics a fascinating subject than almost anything I have read in years.
Mark Blaug, Professor of the History and Methodology of Economics, University of Amsterdam
No one can tell you how to win the Nobel Prize, but these autobiographical essays bring you as close as you can get. If you are interested in what makes great economists tick, this book makes for fascinating reading.
Roger Backhouse, Department of Economics, University of Birmingham
These rich essays provide a fascinating glimpse of the life experiences that helped spawn the most influential work in our profession.
Robert H. Frank, Henrietta Johnson Louis Professor of Management and Professor of Economics, Cornell University
