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It should be noted that having all these contributions in one place is not only useful but pleasing...Epstein's book is a concise and well articulated defense of agent-based modeling. Generative Social Science is essential reading for anyone seriously interested in the foundations and the practice of agent-based modeling. -- Daniel Diermeier, Science
Epstein's Generative Social Science . . . is to be regarded as a success. It is a highly professional book, comestible also by non-experts without giving up scientific rigour. Probably because the author is fond of its subject matter, and manages to transfer his enthusiasm into the reader, the book may be read all at once, as a narrative. . . . In sum, there are good reasons to expect that the community of simulators will welcome this book with enthusiasm, and that other supporters will be recruited. -- Rosaria Conte, JASSS
Epstein's generative manifesto is essential reading for anyone seriously interested in explaining social life. -- Michael Macy, American Journal of Sociology
Epstein's Generative Social Science . . . is to be regarded as a success. It is a highly professional book, comestible also by non-experts without giving up scientific rigour. Probably because the author is fond of its subject matter, and manages to transfer his enthusiasm into the reader, the book may be read all at once, as a narrative. . . . In sum, there are good reasons to expect that the community of simulators will welcome this book with enthusiasm, and that other supporters will be recruited. -- Rosaria Conte, JASSS
Epstein's generative manifesto is essential reading for anyone seriously interested in explaining social life. -- Michael Macy, American Journal of Sociology
Product Description
Agent-based computational modeling is changing the face of social science. In Generative Social Science, Joshua Epstein argues that this powerful, novel technique permits the social sciences to meet a fundamentally new standard of explanation, in which one "grows" the phenomenon of interest in an artificial society of interacting agents: heterogeneous, boundedly rational actors, represented as mathematical or software objects. After elaborating this notion of generative explanation in a pair of overarching foundational chapters, Epstein illustrates it with examples chosen from such far-flung fields as archaeology, civil conflict, the evolution of norms, epidemiology, retirement economics, spatial games, and organizational adaptation. In elegant chapter preludes, he explains how these widely diverse modeling studies support his sweeping case for generative explanation.
This book represents a powerful consolidation of Epstein's interdisciplinary research activities in the decade since the publication of his and Robert Axtell's landmark volume, Growing Artificial Societies. Beautifully illustrated, Generative Social Science includes a CD that contains animated movies of core model runs, and programs allowing users to easily change assumptions and explore models, making it an invaluable text for courses in modeling at all levels.
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This article argues that the agent-based computational model permits a distinctive approach to social science for which the term "generative" is suitable. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
This article argues that the agent-based computational model permits a distinctive approach to social science for which the term "generative" is suitable. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
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6 reviews
31 of 32 people found the following review helpful
A Landmark Publication
7 Mar 2007
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Josh Epstein's new Opus is a landmark publication in the emerging field of multiagent-based simulation of dynamic social systems. Since Josh is not only one of this still nascent (though burgeoning) field's ablest and most creative practitioners, but also among its most thoughtful critics, the reader of has two treats in store: (1) a generous, and wide-ranging, sampling of case studies (including social networks and evolution, population growth, emergence of economic classes, civil unrest, timing of retirement, the dynamics of adaptive organizations and the spread of infectious disease), and (2) a cogent "meta" discussion of what multiagent models ARE, ARE NOT and how (when their properties and limitations are *not* properly taken account of) they can easily be MISAPPLIED.
Far from suggesting that multiagent-based models are a panacea solution to all (or most) social dynamical systems, Josh's book carefully articulates the conditions for which such an approach IS (and is NOT) appropriate; an approach rarely taken by other, similar, overviews of the field. Indeed, the cogent philosophical discussion in Chapter One - alone! - in which the generativist's position is defined and put into a broader modeling/simulation context, is worth the price of admission; I have not seen a better "manifesto" of multiagent-based modeling elsewhere.
Finally, without taking away any of the inherent "beauty" (in the technical sense) of the often exaggerated concept of "emergence," Josh succeeds admirably in both defining the term, and de-mystifying it, stripping it of some of its unnecessary "quasi-mystical" baggage (at least as it is often portrayed in lay publications).
Anyone who is interested in understanding how agent models may be used to help explore the dynamics of social dynamical systems, should have this book firmly on top of their "must read" list! Josh has generously provided future generations of agent explorers their go-to source of both inspiration and ideas. Well done Josh!
Far from suggesting that multiagent-based models are a panacea solution to all (or most) social dynamical systems, Josh's book carefully articulates the conditions for which such an approach IS (and is NOT) appropriate; an approach rarely taken by other, similar, overviews of the field. Indeed, the cogent philosophical discussion in Chapter One - alone! - in which the generativist's position is defined and put into a broader modeling/simulation context, is worth the price of admission; I have not seen a better "manifesto" of multiagent-based modeling elsewhere.
Finally, without taking away any of the inherent "beauty" (in the technical sense) of the often exaggerated concept of "emergence," Josh succeeds admirably in both defining the term, and de-mystifying it, stripping it of some of its unnecessary "quasi-mystical" baggage (at least as it is often portrayed in lay publications).
Anyone who is interested in understanding how agent models may be used to help explore the dynamics of social dynamical systems, should have this book firmly on top of their "must read" list! Josh has generously provided future generations of agent explorers their go-to source of both inspiration and ideas. Well done Josh!
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Excellent example of cross-disciplinary social science using theory
7 Aug 2007
Format:Hardcover
It's refreshing and exciting, in a quiet intellectual kind of way, to encounter a book that includes philosophy of science, music theory, Anasazi disappearance mysteries, ethnic cleansing, and an explanation of why CEOs exist. Josh has produced the book I've been wanting to read any time during the last 20 years, which have been a bit barren from the theory and modeling perspective in social science. He also makes clear the mathematical and philosophical basis of the agent-based approach, producing a baseline both for future work in the field and for competing paradigms such as systems dynamics, discrete simulations, and cellular automata (Wolfram's New Kind of Science), however incommensurable. I was particularly interested in the occasional use of probability modeling (negative exponential distributions generated through simple rules are a very interesting advance in understanding the waiting times between civil violence outbursts) and I'd love to see a deeper relationship established, say between Bayesian models of dynamic systems and agent-based models. Keep up the great work, Josh! Also, kudos to the publisher for the sheer quality of the book: excellent paper, great color plates, and priced to sell rather than as the work of art it is.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Excellent survey of the author's work
27 July 2007
Format:Hardcover
This book did a good job of introducing me to the current state of agent-based modeling. It also, perhaps inadvertently, highlighted some of the current weaknesses of the field. In particular, the models shown in each paper rarely shared common features, and there was little consistency in method.
Epstein argues persuasively that agent-based modeling is a tool, not a methodological approach, and you should no sooner expect consistent usage here than with differential calculus. That said, it was a bit disconcerting.
Also, while the goal espoused here was to use the bare minimum of constraints that retain explanatory power, I was disappointed that relevant work from other fields was often abstracted away. For example, a few models used social networks; but the networks presented were static, not dynamic, and were not built around power-law ratios. Such additional complexity may well have distracted from the main point; but it would have been nice to see at least some discussion of why the models were simplified.
Regardless, I was very pleased with the book and would highly recommend it.
Epstein argues persuasively that agent-based modeling is a tool, not a methodological approach, and you should no sooner expect consistent usage here than with differential calculus. That said, it was a bit disconcerting.
Also, while the goal espoused here was to use the bare minimum of constraints that retain explanatory power, I was disappointed that relevant work from other fields was often abstracted away. For example, a few models used social networks; but the networks presented were static, not dynamic, and were not built around power-law ratios. Such additional complexity may well have distracted from the main point; but it would have been nice to see at least some discussion of why the models were simplified.
Regardless, I was very pleased with the book and would highly recommend it.
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