New Mathematica Book - "Simulating Society"
- To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
- Subject: [mg12863] New Mathematica Book - "Simulating Society"
- From: jroth at springer-ny.com
- Date: Wed, 17 Jun 1998 00:28:06 -0400
- Organization: Deja News - The Leader in Internet Discussion
- Sender: owner-wri-mathgroup at wolfram.com
I work for TELOS/Springer-Verlag, and we've recently published a new book on using Mathematica for socioeconomic modeling. It is written by Richard J. Gaylord & Louis J. DAndria: Simulating Society A Mathematica Toolkit for Modeling Socioeconomic Behavior Here is an excerpt from the foreword by Scott E. Page (Department of Economics, University of Iowa): "This book describes how to create with minimal, often beautiful Mathematica code, computer models of complex human interactions involving agents (people) who follow changeable heuristics - rules of thumb - in their day-to-day behavior. The topics addressed in this book - movements, fads, norms, game playing, social networks, culture, and conformity - span traditional social scientific boundaries. Many of the models assume that others - friends, family, peers, and role models - influence our actions. By deconstructing the code and discussing how to extend it to richer models, this books says Here is how to make your own models. This book should whet your appetite for a deeper look at simulation models in the social sciences. It is like a box of chocolates: You really never do know what you might get. Thats the wonder of computational modeling. You define the world, then sit back and watch it evolve." Here is some additional information: TOPICS: Introduction Chapter 1: Modeling a Society of Mobile Heterogeneous Individuals Principles and techniques Cultural Exchange Chapter 2: Transmitting Culture Value and belief exchange The influence of social status and role models Socioeconomic Transactions Chapter 3: Deciding Whether to Interact The optional prisoner?s dilemma Gossip and reputation The use of signals of intent Chapter 4: Choosing How to Behave Practicing reciprocity and using history-based interaction strategies Aspirations and expectations Group Interactions Chapter 5: Grouping and Conforming Neighborhood formation The development of social norms and the spread of fads and fashions Nonlocality Chapter 6: Social Networking and Moving to Far-Flung Locations Interacting with social neighborhoods of friends and family Movement over varying distances Appendices Appendix A: How Mathematica Works Appendix B: List and Matrix Essentials Appendix C: Graphics and Efficiency ABOUT THE AUTHORS: Richard J. Gaylord is a Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is the coauthor of three other Mathematica-related books, one on programming and two on computer simulation, all of which have been published by TELOS/Springer-Verlag. Outside of his professional interests in simulating social phenomena, he is a dedicated moviegoer. Louis J. DAndria holds a graduate degree in mathematics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and works as a Mathematica programmer for Wolfram Research, Inc. In addition to computer modeling, his professional interests include number theory, document programming, computational problem solving, and gardening. 244 pages, 19 illus./Mathematica Notebooks Available via TELOS Website ISBN 0-387-98532-8 price: $39.95 TO ORDER: Please e-mail me at jroth at springer-ny.com Regards, -Jason Roth Product Manager Computer Science TELOS/Springer-Verlag NY -----== Posted via Deja News, The Leader in Internet Discussion ==----- http://www.dejanews.com/ Now offering spam-free web-based newsreading