 In a class by themselves for insight, originality, readability and cross-disciplinary importance are the works of the Nobel laureate Thomas Schelling. He is the fountainhead of the huge literature that applies game theory to social and political issues of immediate relevance, and shows how lightly it is possible to wear one’s mathematics if the logic is sufficiently sure-footed. There are four volumes, all essential:  Schelling (1960)  (**),  Schelling (1978 / 2006)  (**),  Schelling (1984)  (**),  Schelling (2006)  (**).