John Von Neumann, known as the father of game theory,  laid the mathematic foundation with his paper "On the Theory of Games of St in 1928.  He was the first to introduce the minimax theorem which laid the foundation for modern game theory. 

Along with Von Neumann, Morgenstern was one of the "founding fathers" of game theory as the two collaborated on a book called, "Theory of Games and Economic Behavior".  Their book was significant in the development of game theory as it influenced both practical and theoretical approaches to make strategic decisions acorss numerous fields.

Mathematician John Nash expanded game theory in the 1950s, introducing the concept of equilibrium in non-cooperative games known as Nash equilibrium. Nash equilibrium is when a player has no incentive to deviate from their chosen strategy. His innovative work allowed for the analysis of games where players make decisions independently and simultaneously.

 In the following decades, game theory expanded to fields such as biology, political science, and computer science.