Thank you.
News Items
- 1. Chronicle of Higher Education Article
- An article recently appeared in the Chronicle of
Higher Education (July 24, 1998) entitled "Using Computer Models
to Study the Complexities of Human Society." Various researchers
(Rob Axtell, Steven Caldwell, John Casti, Noshir Contractor, Les
Gasser, George Gumerman, Scott Page, Thomas Schelling, and Peyton
Young) are questioned regarding what they perceive to be the
advantages and disadvantages of using agent-based computer models to
explore the functioning of both current and past human societies.
The article can be accessed online at
http://www.chronicle.com/free/v44/i46/46a01701.htm.
- 2. Collective Dynamics of `Small-World' Networks
Note: The following news item is an abbreviated version of
a letter to Nature by Duncan J. Watts and Steven H. Strogatz
(Vol. 393, 4 June 1998). Correspondence and requests for materials
should be addressed to D. J. Watts (djw24@columbia.edu).
- "Networks of coupled dynamical systems have been used to
model biological oscillators, Josephson junction arrays, excitable
media, neural networks, spatial games, genetic control networks, and
many other self-organizing systems. Ordinarily, the connection
topology is assumed to be either completely regular or completely
random. But many biological, technological and social networks lie
somewhere between these two extremes."
- "Here we explore simple models of networks that can be
tuned through this middle ground: regular networks `rewired' to
introduce increasing amounts of disorder. We find that these
systems can be highly clustered, like regular lattices, yet have
small characteristic path lengths, like random graphs. We call them
`small-world' networks by analalogy with the small-world phenomenon
(popularly known as six degrees of separation)." [Note: John
Guare's 1990 play and subsequent 1993 movie entitled "Six Degrees of
Separation" popularized the idea that everyone in the world is
connected to everyone else through a chain of at most six mutual
acquaintances.]
- "The neural network of the worm Caenorhabditis
elegans, the power grid of the western United States, and the
collaboration graph of film actors are shown to be small-world
networks. Models of dynamical systems with small-world coupling
display enhanced signal-propagation speed, computational power, and
synchronizability. In particular, infectious diseases spread more
easily in small-world networks than in regular lattices. ...
Although small-world architecture has not received much attention,
we suggest that it will probably turn out to be widespread in
biological, social and man-made systems, often with important
dynamical consequences."
- 3. Debate
Between Stephen Jay Gould and Daniel C. Dennett:
- An interesting debate between Stephen Jay Gould and Daniel
Dennett was touched off by the publication by Dennett of Darwin's
Dangerous Idea: Evolution and the Meaning of Life (Touchstone
Books, 1996, ISBN: 068482471X). In Chapter 10 (Bully for
Brontosaurus), Dennett begins an attack on the work of Gould with
the following harsh assessment: "This chapter is about another myth
-- Stephen Jay Gould, Refuter of Orthodox Darwinism. Over the
years, Gould has mounted a series of attacks on aspects of
contemporary neo-Darwinism, and although none of these attacks has
proven to be more than a mild corrective to orthodoxy at best, their
rhetorical impact on the outside world has been immense and
distorting."
- Gould responded with a two-part critique of Dennett's
arguments (June 12 and June 26, 1997), which was followed by a
response from Dennett and a further rebuttal by Gould (August 14,
1997). Further comments were then made by Steven Pinker followed by
another rebuttal by Gould (October 9, 1997). All of these points
and counterparts originally appeared on, and are now archived at,
the New York Review of Books Web site at
http://www.nybooks.com/nyrev/.
- 4. Shopbots
Note: The following news item appeared in the UMBC
AgentNews Webletter (Vol. 3, No. 1, May 16, 1998) by Timothy Finin
(finin@cs.umbc.edu).
- "Shopbots seem to be gaining ground as a successful
application of internet agent techniques. Excite recently purchased
Jango and Yahoo is using technology developed by Junglee to provide
shopbots for a variety of product categories. Other companies are
offering services for single markets, such as books. Muenchhoff and
Janz GmbH's Acses (www.acses.com) links into the databases of all
its book sites, searching for your title. It returns the top
selections, ranked by price, along with shipping and handling
information, while linking to the respective Web sites. A recent
Wired article discusses how shopbots may affect the book selling
business."
- Note: The Wired article in question is
"Using Bots to Buy Books" by Jennifer Sullivan (May 14, 1998) and is
available on-line at
www.wired.com/news/news/business/story/12280.html.
Book Announcements
Note: The following book announcements have been incorporated
into the syllabus of readings linked to the ACE Web site home page;
links to publishers (for ordering purposes) can be found on the
journals/publishers page linked to the ACE Web site home page.
- Gerald Silverberg (MERIT, Maastricht, The Netherlands) has
written an eight-page review of W. B. Arthur et al. (eds.), The
Economy as a Complex Evolving System II, Proceedings Volume
XXVII, SFI Studies in the Sciences of Complexity, Addison-Wesley,
1997 that is scheduled to appear in a forthcoming edited volume of
readings. A postscript version (274K) of this review can be
accessed at
http://meritbbs.unimaas.nl/staff/silverberg/review.ps.
- Steven A. Frank, Foundations of Social Evolution,
Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey, 1998, ISBN
0-691-05934-9 (paper).
- From the publisher: "This is a masterly theoretical
treatment of one of the central problems in evolutionary biology,
the evolution of social coooperation and conflict. Steven Frank
tackles the problem with a highly original combination of
approaches: game theory, classical models of natural selection,
quantitative genetics, and kin selection. He unites these with the
best of economic thought: a clear theory of model formation and
comparative statics, the development of simple methods for analyzing
complex problems, and notions of information and rationality. Using
this unique, multidisciplinary approach, Frank makes major advances
in understanding the foundations of social evolution."
- Frank is a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at
the University of California, Irvine. For more information about
this book, visit the Princeton University Press promotions site at
http://pup.princeton.edu/titles/6360.html.
- David B. Fogel, Evolutionary Computation: The Fossil
Record, The IEEE Press, 1998, 650 pages, ISBN 0-7803-3481-7.
- This book is a collection of reprinted papers from the
history of simulated evolution dating back to the early/mid-1950s.
Each chapter has an introduction that places the reprint in the
context of present and prior work. All of the introductions are
based on interviews conducted by D. B. Fogel with the original
authors (if still alive) and their colleagues over a period of four
years. The book is available through Amazon.com. Ordering
information can also be found at the Web site
http://www.natural-selection.com/misc/fossilrec.html
- Gary William Flake, The Computational Beauty of Nature:
Computer Explorations of Fractals, Chaos, Complex Systems, and
Adaptation, The MIT Press, July 1998, ISBN 0-262-06200-3
(cloth).
- From the publisher: "In this book Gary William Flake
develops the idea that recurrent rules can produce rich and
complicated behaviors. Distinguishing `agents' (e.g., molecules,
cells, animals, and species) from their interactions (e.g., chemical
reactions, immune system responses, sexual reproduction, and
evolution), Flake argues that it is the computational properties of
interactions that account for much of what we think of as
`beautiful' and `interesting.' From this basic thesis, Flake
explores what he considers to be today's four most interesting
computational topics: fractals, chaos, complex systems, and
adaptation."
- Gary William Flake is a research scientist in the Adaptive
Information and Signal Processing Department of Siemens Corporate
Research, Princeton, New Jersey. For more information about his
book, visit the MIT Press promotions site at
http://mitpress.mit.edu/promotions/books/FLAOHF98.
- Enrique Ruspini, Piero Bonissone, and Witold Pedrycz (eds.),
Handbook of Fuzzy Computation, Institute of Physics
Publishing, 1998, ISBN 0-75030427-8.
- From the publisher: "Fuzzy computation encompasses the
application of the theories of fuzzy sets and fuzzy logic to the
solution of information processing and systems-analysis problems.
Initially conceived as a methodology for the representation and
manipulation of imprecise and vague information, fuzzy computation
has found wide utilization in problems that fall well beyond its
originally intended scope of application. ... The Handbook of
Fuzzy Computation is a major reference work intended to serve
both as a repository of information about fundamental aspects of the
field and as a stepping stone into detailed explorations into the
myriad applications of fuzzy-logic techniques and methods."
- Ruspini is with SRI International, U.S.A., Bonissone is with
the GE Corporation, U.S.A., and Pedryca is with the University of
Manitoba, Canada. For more information about this book, visit the
publisher's promotions site at
http://www.iop.org/Books/Catalogue/0750304278.
Journal Announcements
Note: Pointers to any new journals listed below have been
incorporated into the journals/publishers page linked to the ACE Web
site home page.
- Special ACE Issues of Computational Economics and the Journal of
Economic Dynamics and Control
- Papers on ACE-related topics are solicited for possible
inclusion in a special ACE issue of Computational Economics
and for a special ACE issue of the Journal of Economic Dynamics
and Control (Section A: Computational Methods in Economics and
Finance). Each submitted paper should address a clearly defined
issue of economic interest from an agent-based perspective. The
deadline for receipt of paper submissions is July 30, 1999; all
papers will be refereed. Two hard copies of each submitted paper
should be sent by July 30, 1999, to the guest editor: Leigh
Tesfatsion, Department of Economics, 260 Heady Hall, Iowa State
University, Ames, IA 50011-1070, U.S.A.
- Additional information about the two special ACE journal
issues, including detailed guidelines for paper submissions, can be
obtained at
http://www.econ.iastate.edu/tesfatsi/acespec.htm
- Special Computational Economics Issue on Evolutionary
Processes in Economics
- Computational Economics is preparing a special issue
on Evolutionary Processes in Economics. Topics of interest include,
but are not limited to: evolutionary economics (IO in
Schumpeter/Nelson/Winter tradition); evolutionary game theory;
evolutionary computation; complex adaptive systems; (bounded)
rationality; learning and adaptive behavior; and experimental
economics. An essential criterion applied to any paper will be that
it has important economic, evolutionary and computational
components. All papers will be refereed following standard
procedures.
- To submit a paper, please send three hard copies before
February 15, 1999 to: Nick Vriend, University of London, Queen Mary
and Westfield College, Department of Economics, Mile End Road,
London, E1 4NS, UK.
- Special Issue of the Review of Economic Design
- The Review of Economic Design (RED) will publish a
special issue on the design of networks and their role in economic
and social settings. Topics suitable for inclusion in this issue
include: formation and optimality of network structures; the role of
networks in production, distribution, communication or exchange;
matching and coalition formation; network structures in industrial
organization; network structures in organizational design; and
network and communication structures in game theory.
- The issue will be co-edited by Bhaskar Dutta and Matthew
Jackson. All papers will be refereed according to the usual
standards of RED. Four copies of a manuscript (following the
usual format for submission to RED) along with a cover letter
indicating submission to this special issue should be sent by
December 31, 1998 directly to: Professor Matthew Jackson, Review of
Economic Design, Humanities and Social Sciences 228-77, California
Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
- For more information, visit the Springer journals Web site at
http://link.springer.de/link/service/journals/10058/.
- Journal of Complex Systems: First Issue
- The Journal of Complex Systems is a new quarterly
journal published by Hermes Publishing Company and edited by Eric
Bonabeau. The aim of the journal is to provide a medium of
communication for multidisciplinary approaches, either empirical or
theoretical, to the study of complex systems in such diverse fields
as biology, physics, engineering, economics, and cognitive science.
The first issue of the journal has just been published.
- Additional information about the journal, including
submission and subscription instructions, can be obtained online at
http://www.santafe.edu/~bonabeau.
Additional ACE-Related Web Sites
Note: Pointers to the following Web sites have been
incorporated into the "other ACE-related Web sites" page linked to
the ACE Web site home page.
- Computational Laboratories Group
- A "computational laboratory" is defined by researchers at
the Department of Economics, UC Santa Barbara, to be a
well-specified distributed agent-based simulation model coupled with
careful experimental design. They have organized a Computational
Laboratories Group (CLG) whose purpose is to use computational
laboratories to conduct theory-driven explorations of complex
processes in organizations and in agent-based public finance, macro,
and spatial economics. A CLG Web site providing information about
the group's research and activities is maintained by Catherine
Dibble at
http://www.econ.ucsb.edu/~cath/complab/
- The International Society for Adaptive Behavior (ISAB)
- The International Society for Adaptive Behavior (ISAB) is
an international scientific society devoted to education and
furthering research on adaptive behavior in animals, animats,
software agents, and robots. Resources available at the ISAB Web
site include pointers to journals and conference information. The
site can be accessed at
http://netq.rowland.org/isab/isab.html.
- Multiagent Systems Research Group
- The Multiagent Systems Research Group, under the direction
of Tuomas Sandholm (Computer Science Department, Washington
University St. Louis), is concerned with designing, analyzing and
implementing sophisticated artificial intelligence systems
consisting of multiple agents. A special focus of the group is the
coordination of self-interested agents in open systems. In this
endeavor, use is made of techniques from game theory and other
fields of microeconomics together with normative models of bounded
rationality involving limited computation and communication. This
work has led to the development of new techniques for single agent
resource-bounded reasoning, constraint satisfaction, and machine
learning. Potential applications of this work include: vehicle
routing; manufacturing planning and scheduling among multiple
companies in subcontracting networks; classroom scheduling; patient
scheduling at hospitals; multiagent information gathering on the
Web; routing and bandwidth allocation in multi-provider
multi-consumer computer networks; and electronic commerce. A Web
site for the group can be accessed at
http://www.cs.wustl.edu/~mas/.
- Mark's Agents Reference Page
- This Web site, maintained by Mark Noschang (College of
Engineering, University of Cincinnati), contains an extensive list
of pointers to agent-related resources, including an annotated
bibliography, introductory materials on topics such as software
agents and agent-based engineering, agent-building tools, agents in
manufacturing, agent reference pages, and agent research groups. The
site can be accessed at
http://www.ececs.uc.edu/~mnoschan/agents.html/.
- Memetic Algorithms' Home Page
- Memetic algorithms are population-based methods for
heuristic search in optimization problems that combine local search
heuristics with crossover operators. [Other names that have been
used for these types of methods include hybrid genetic algorithms,
parallel genetic algorithms, and genetic local search.] The purpose
of the Memetic Algorithms' Home Page, maintained by Pablo Moscato
(moscato@densis.fee.unicamp.br) at
http://www.densis.fee.unicamp.br/~moscato/memetic_home.html,
is to provide a central location where pointers to information about
memetic algorithms can be found and where researchers pursuing
related methodologies can become acquainted with each other's work.
Resources available at this site include: conference information; a
list of pointers to researchers working on issues related to memetic
algorithms; and bibliographies on memetic algorithms, population
memetics, and cultural evolution that include numerous downloadable
papers.
Conference Information
Note: The following announcements have been incorporated into
the conference page linked to the ACE Web site home page.
- 1999 Meetings of the Society for Computational Economics
(CEF99)
- The 1999 Meetings of the Society for Computational
Economics (SCE) on Computing in Economics and Finance (CEF99) will
be held June 24--June 26, 1999, on the Boston College campus,
Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, USA. The meetings will embrace
quantitative and qualitative methods in economics, finance, and
decision making.
- Papers are solicited that deal significantly with
computational aspects of such topics as: linear and nonlinear
systems; econometrics and statistics; stochastic control; automatic
differentiation; algorithmic models of decision making; solution
algorithms; auction modeling; neural networks; artificial
intelligence; computability and complexity theory; parallel and
supercomputing; qualitative reasoning; and models including
qualitative simulation.
- Abstracts are to be submitted by January 15, 1999, and
final papers should be available by May 1, 1999. Additional
information about CEF99, including detailed paper submission
instructions, can be obtained at the CEF99 Web site at
http://fmwww.bc.edu/cef99/
Miscellaneous Announcements
- Simulating Societies Mailing List
- The Simulating Societies (SimSoc) mailing list is
maintained by researchers at the University of Surrey, UK. The
purpose of the list is to disseminate announcements, news, and
discussion related to the use of computer simulation in the social
sciences, including approaches based on micro-simulation and
multi-agent modelling. To join the list, send an email to
mailbase@mailbase.ac.uk with the message JOIN followed by your first
name and your surname. For more information about the SimSoc
mailing list, contact Edmund Chattoe at scs1ec@soc.surrey.ac.uk.
- Sante Fe Institute Research Opportunities for Young Scholars
- The Santa Fe Institute (SFI) is a private, non-profit
research and education institution in Santa Fe, New Mexico that
supports multidisciplinary collaborations focusing on the study of
complexity and complex adaptive systems. SFI's broad program of
research is aimed at understanding both the common features of
complex systems and at comprehending the enormous diversity of
specific examples. Topics currently under study include
evolutionary biology; scaling in biology and ecology; agent-based
modeling and simulation tools; models of the immune systems,
cellular regulation and other biological systems; and models of
economic, political and social interactions.
- SFI supports residential and off-campus research
opportunities for young scholars at various career stages.
Positions open include postdoctoral fellowships in complex studies
and NSF summer research opportunities for undergraduates. The Santa
Fe Institute is an equal opportunity employer. Women and minorities
are encouraged to apply.
- For more information, please contact Christine Gonzales,
Program Coordinator, SFI Research Programs, at (505) 984-8800,
extension 235.
- Research Position at NASA Ames
Note: The following announcement was received in July, 1998.
- The Computational Inductive Inference Group at NASA Ames
Research Center invites applications for a researcher to work on its
"Collective Intelligence" project. This multi-disciplinary effort is
led by David Wolpert, and currently has five researchers. It is
concerned with systems that involve large collections of
sophisticated machine learning algorithms operating, without
centralized control, so as to achieve a global objective. The
current domains being investigated are packet routing, automated
parallelization, and protocell modeling.
- The position will be at either the post-doctoral and/or
staff researcher level, depending on qualifications. Applicants
must have a doctoral degree and an outstanding research record.
Experience in one or more of the fields of game theory, economics,
machine learning, statistical inference (especially reinforcement
learning), or multi-agent systems is required. Experience in network
routing, biophysics, population biology, and/or parallel algorithms
is a plus.
- Candidates should send a curriculum vitae (including a list
of publications), their citizenship status and the names of at least
three references to Hal Duncan (hduncan@mail.arc.nasa.gov),
650-604-4767, MS N269-2, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field,
CA, 94035. Electronic submissions are preferred. Do NOT send
information to David Wolpert.
Reminder: Items Requested for ACE News Notes and Complexity
Just a reminder that if you have any ACE-related news items, or
any information about ACE-related teaching materials, software, books,
articles, journals, or conferences that you would like to have considered for
inclusion in the ACE news notes, and/or the Complexity-at-Large section of
the John Wiley journal Complexity, please email them to me (along with
Web site information if available) at the following address:
tesfatsi@iastate.edu.
Copyright © 1998 Leigh Tesfatsion. All Rights Reserved.