Richard J. Gaylord, Louis J. D'Andria Simulating Society

Annotation

In "Simulating Scoiety", the authors explore the basis for social and economic behavior. Using the methodology of computer simulation, specifically cellular automata, they model various factors that are involved in a system of individuals (or agents) who interact socially and economically with one another. The usefulness of computer simulations in the social sciences is that it provides a laboratory in which qualitative ideas about social and economic interations can be tested. This brings a new dimension to the social sciences where 'explanations' abound, but are rarely subject to much experimental testing. Mathematica is used as the programming language for implementing these models as cellular automata simulations. The authors have chosen this language because it has a number of features which make it uniquely qualified to be used by social scientists, especially those without expertise in computer programming. Users can easily access the various 3.0 Mathematica notebooks, and readily interact with them, the full text of the printed book, itself, and other data contained on www.telospub.com.