Thank you.
Journal Announcements
Note: Pointers to the journals listed below can be found on
the journal and publisher information page linked to the ACE web
site home page.
- Special Issue: Agent-Based Computational Economics
- A special double issue on Agent-Based Computational
Economics (ACE), guest edited by Leigh Tesfatsion (Iowa State
University, Ames), has been published by the Journal of Economic
Dynamics and Control (JEDC), Volume 25, No. 3-4, March 2001.
The introduction to this special issue, which provides a brief
overview of ACE as well as a synopsis of the included special issue
articles, is available online at
http://www.econ.iastate.edu/tesfatsi/surveys.htm#ACEspec
A Table of Contents (full text and abstracts ) for the special issue
(Volume 25 Issue 3-4) can be accessed at
http://www.elsevier.com/homepage/sae/econbase/dyncon/menu.sht
- Special Issue: Imitation in Natural and Artificial
Systems
- A special issue on imitation in natural and artificial
systems, guest edited by Chrystopher L. Nehaniv and Kerstin
Dautenhahn (University of Hertfordshire, UK), has been published by
Cybernetics and Systems, Volume 32, Number 1-2,
January-March, 2001.
- Special Issue: Application of Social Analogies to
Computational Systems
- A special issue (Vol. 4, No. 1) of the electronic refereed
Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation
(JASSS), guest edited by Bruce Edmonds and Kerstin Dautenhahn,
was published on January 31, 2001. The topic of the special issue
is "Starting from Society: the Application of Social Analogies to
Computational Systems." JASSS is devoted to the exploration and
understanding of social processes by means of computer simulation.
It is freely available, with no subscription. To access the special
issue, visit the JASSS homepage at
http://www.soc.surrey.ac.uk/JASSS/
- Complexity:
- Complexity International, published by Charles Sturt
University, Australia, is a refereed journal for scientific papers
treating any area of complex systems research. The main focus of the
journal is the generation of complex behavior from the interaction
of multiple parallel processes. For more information, visit
http://www.csu.edu.au/ci/info-journal.html
- Agent Systems:
- Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems, edited by
Nicholas Jennings (University of Southhampton, UK) and Katia Sycara
(Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, U.S.A.), is an
interdisciplinary journal published by Kluwer that focuses on the
theory and practice of autonomous agents and multi-agent systems.
The journal is available in both hard copy and electronic form. For
more information, visit
http://www.wkap.nl/aims_scope.htm/1387-2532
- Computation:
- The Journal of Computational Analysis and Applications
(JoCAAA) is a new quarterly publication of Kluwer/Plenum,
available in both hard copy and electronic form. The
Editor-in-Chief is George Anastassiou (University of Memphis,
Memphis, Tennessee). For more information about JoCAAA, visit
http://www.msci.memphis.edu/~anastasg/anlyjour.htm
Book Announcements
Note: The following book announcements have been incorporated
into the annotated syllabus of ACE-related readings linked to the
ACE Web site home page. Links to publishers (for ordering purposes)
can be found on the journal and book announcements and information
page linked to the ACE Web site home page.
- Haim Levy, Moshe Levy, and Sorin Solomon, Microscopic
Simulation of Financial Markets, Academic Press, 2000, 300
pages, ISBN: 0-124-45890-4.
- From the publisher: "By using Microscopic Simulation, a
methodology originally developed by physicists for the investigation
of complex systems, the authors are able to relax classical
assumptions about investor behavior and to model it as empirically
and experimentally observed. This rounded and judicious
introduction to the application of MS in finance and economics
reveals that many of the empirically-observed `puzzles' in finance
can be explained by investors' quasi-rationality."
- The authors are with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem,
Mt. Scopus, Israel.
- Bart Nooteboom, Learning and Innovation in Organizations and
Economies, Oxford University Press, 2000, 343 pages, ISBN:
0-199-124099-X.
- From the Author: "This book seeks to develop a heuristic of
discovery. How does novelty arise, and how can it arise in such a
way that exploitation and exploration can be combined? An attempt
is also made to connect the levels of individual learning,
organizational learning, and innovation in industries or `innovation
systems.' Building blocks for this endeavor are sought in
economics, sociology, and cognitive science."
- Barte Nooteboom is with the Rotterdam School of Management
at the Erasmus University Rotterdam.
- David Colander (ed.), The Complexity Vision and the Teaching of
Economics, Edward Elgar Publishing, June 2000, 328 pages, ISBN:
1-840-64252-1.
- From the publisher: "This ground-breaking book focuses on the
implications of the complexity vision, such as that held by economists
at the Santa Fe Institute, for the teaching of economics. ... It
asks the question: how would the teaching of economics change if
complexity is taken seriously? An outstanding group of
contributors, including Brian Arthur, Buz Brock, and Duncan Foley,
provide interesting and provocative answers to that question in a
non-technical and highly accessible style."
- Esther-Mirjam Sent, The Evolving Rationality of Rational
Expectations: An Assessment of Thomas Sargent's Achievements,
Cambridge University Press, November 1998, ISBN: 0-521-57164-2.
- From a review by D. Wade Hands: "Sent's book is like no
other work in the history of economic thought. The subject matter
is contemporary macroeconomic theory, and the dominant themes are
symmetry, reflexivity, and the interest-ladenness of scientific
theory. It is a fascinating story: provocative as well as
compelling."
- Esther-Mirjam Sent is with the University of Notre Dame,
Indiana.
- Daniel Hillis, The Simple Ideas that Make Computers Work,
Perseus Books, November 1999, 164 pages, ISBN: 0-465-02596-X.
- From an Amazon.com Editorial Review by David Wall: "(This
is) a glorious book that reveals the nature of logical machines
simply and elegantly. ... Moving on from the nature of logical
circuits, the author deconstructs software and the mechanisms it
employs to solve problems. Hillis then stands atop the building
blocks he's arranged into a sturdy foundation and discusses the
future of computing. Parallel processors already are in use, and
neural networks with limited abilities to learn and adapt have
proved quite good at certain jobs. Hillis explores the potential of
both these technologies. Then, he throws some light on quantum
computing and evolving systems -- emerging ideas that promise to
make computers much more powerful, and thereby change the world."
- Daniel Hillis is currently in the process of forming a new
company, Applied Minds, that will provide advance technology,
creative design, and consulting services. Until recently, Hillis
was a Disney Fellow and Vice President of Research and Development
at Walt Disney Imagineering.
- Don Ross, Andrew Brook, and David Thompson (eds.), Dennett's
Philosophy, MIT Press, September 2000, 448 pages, ISBN:
0-262-18200-9.
- From the publisher: "The influential philosopher Daniel
Dennett is best known for his distinctive theory of mental content,
his elucidation of how the complex components of mental processing
seem to come together in the relatively coherent narratives that we
tell ourselves about ourselves and in his vivid accounts of how to
think about minds in their evolutionary setting. The essays in this
collection step back to ask: Do the complex components of Dennett's
work on intentionality, consciousness, evolution, and ethics
themselves come together into a coherent philosophical system? ...
In the concluding essay ... Dennett offers his own thoughts on the
comprehensiveness of his philosophy."
- Don Ross is Senior Lecturer in Economics and Director of
the Philosophy, Politics, and Economics Program at the University of
Cape Town. Andrew Brook is Professor of Philosophy and Director of
the Cognitive Science Program at Carleton University, Canada.
Software
Note: Pointers to the following materials have been
incorporated into the software page linked to the ACE Web site home
page.
- Evo: Artificial Life Framework
- Evo, developed by the Omicron Group, is a software
framework that allows researchers to study complex systems of
independent agents interacting with one another and with their
environment. Evo is built upon the Swarm Simulation System
developed at the Santa Fe Institute and maintained at the Swarm
Development Group. Evo was developed solely with the use of
open-source tools and is released as freeware under the terms of the
GNU General Public License. For more information, visit
http://www.omicrongroup.org/evo/
- Tutorial on Ascape (Java):
- As previously reported in these notes, Ascape (Agent
Landscape) is a high-level Java framework developed at the
Brookings Institution by Miles T. Parker to support agent-based
research. A tutorial by Parker on the design, development, and use
of Ascape, titled "What is Ascape and Why Should You Care," appears
in the January issue of the electronic Journal of Artificial
Societies and Social Simulation, Volume 4 (Number 1). The
article can be accessed at
http://jasss.soc.surrey.ac.uk/4/1/5.html
Detailed information about Ascape can also be obtained at the Ascape
homepage at
http://www.brook.edu/es/dynamics/models/ascape/ReadMe.html
- Erlang: General Purpose PL for Distributed Applications
- Erlang is a general purpose programming language and
run-time environment designed at Ericsson, a telecommunications
company active in more than 140 countries that specializes in mobile
phones and other communications tools. Erlang has built-in support
for concurrency, distribution, and fault-tolerance, features
critical for multi-agent applications. Open-source Erlang, in use
in a number of Ericsson products, is being released free of charge
to help encourage the spread of Erlang outside of Ericsson. For
more information, visit
http://www.erlang.org/
- Computational Lab for Evolutionary Trade Networks (C++/Visual Basic):
- The Trade Network Game Laboratory (TNG Lab),
developed by D. McFadzean, D. Stewart, and L. Tesfatsion, is a
computational laboratory for exploring the evolution of trade
networks among strategically interacting buyers, sellers, and
dealers. Targeted for the Microsoft Windows desktop, the TNG Lab
has been designed both as a research tool and as a pedagogical tool
for illustrating the potential use of agent-based computational
modelling for economic applications. The TNG Lab is both modular
and extensible and has a clear, easily operated graphical user
interface. It permits visualization of the formation and evolution
of trade networks by means of real-time animations. Data tables and
charts reporting descriptive performance statistics are also
provided in real time. For information regarding the online
availability of the TNG Lab, TNG Lab tutorials, and research
articles and reports making use of the TNG Lab, see the TNG Homepage
at
http://www.econ.iastate.edu/tesfatsi/tnghome.htm
Research Groups and Sites
Note: Pointers to the following research groups and sites
have been incorporated into the ACE-related research groups and
sites page linked to the ACE Web site home page.
- Agent-Based Geosimulation:
- Paul M. Torrens (Center for Advanced Spatial Analysis,
University College London) maintains a Web site on multi-agent
systems, agent-based models, and geosimulation at
http://www.casa.ucl.ac.uk/geosimulation/abms.htm
Linked resources include projects focusing on adaptive industrial
and business networks, urban change, pedestrian behavior, and
suburban sprawl, as well as a variety of open-source cellular
automata and agent-based modelling platforms.
- Growing Self-Organizing Networks:
- Dr.-Ing. habil. Bernd Fritzke, Senior Lecturer for Neural
Computation at the Dresden University of Technology, maintains a Web
site at
http://pikas.inf.tu-dresden.de/~fritzke/research/incremental.html
that features work by himself and his students on growing
self-organizing networks. Background material is provided, along
with pointers to examples, software, Java simulations, publications,
and related work by other authors.
- Graph Theory and Network Analysis:
- Vladimir Batagelj maintains a list of pointers to graph theory
and network analysis resources (e.g., programs, algorithms, graph
formats, data, and visualization tools) at
http://vlado.fmf.uni-lj.si/vlado/vladonet.htm
- Cellular Automata:
- Mario Rodríguez-Riotorto maintains a Web site on
cellular automata in both Spanish and English at
http://www.geocities.com/riotorto/
Resources include an introductory description and short history,
theoretical aspects, applications, and references.
- Computer Graphics:
- The Visualization and Animation Group at the Institute of
Computer Graphics and Algorithms, Vienna University of Technology,
performs basic and applied research in computer graphics. Areas of
focus include scientific visualization, virtual environments, and
computer animation. In addition to research, the group specializes
in consulting and technology transfer as well as computer
graphics-related education at both the undergraduate and graduate
levels. For more information, visit
http://www.cg.tuwien.ac.at/home/
- Complex Systems Visualization:
- CeVis is a research center at the Department of Mathematics
and Computer Science at the University of Bremen, Germany. CeVis
stresses basic research in the areas of time series analysis,
cellular automata, chaos, and fractals, and the related question of
the visualization of these mathematical concepts. CeVis is also
involved in teacher-enhancement activities in both the USA and
Germany. For more information, visit
http://www.cevis.uni-bremen.de/english/CeVis/welcome.html
- The Sims:
- Since 1987, Will Wright (inventor of SimCity) and his
colleagues at Maxis have developed more than a dozen computer
simulation games, many related to architecture and city planning.
Wright's newest release is the Sims, an elaborate Tamagotchi-style
neighborhood that allows players to freely manipulate their virtual
inhabitants. For more information about the Sims, visit the Sims
Web site at
http://thesims.ea.com/us/home/mainnew.html
(Warning -- watch out for a cookie bombardment!)
- Artificial Life:
- Ariel Dolan, a freelance software developer from Ramat-Gan,
Israel, maintains a Web site stressing on-line artificial life
resources at
http://www.aridolan.com/
He is particularly interested in alife, genetic algorithm, and cellular
automata experiments written in cross platform Web languages (Java, Tcl/Tk)
with freely provided source code.
- Artificial and Human/Animal Emotion:
- From the UMBC AgentNews (v6n3): The Emotion Forum, a Web
site providing pointers to information and links for researchers
trying to model emotions in humans, animals, and robots, can be
found at
http://www.lri.fr/~lola/emotion.html
Workshops and Meetings
Note: The following announcements have been incorporated into
the workshops and meetings page linked to the ACE Web site home
page.
- Complex Systems Research (March 2001):
- A colloquium, course and conference on new developments in
complex systems research in the physical, biological, and social
sciences will be held March 25-26, 2002, at the National Academy of
Sciences, Beckman Center, Irvine CA. These events are sponsored by
the New England Complex Systems Institute (NECSI) in conjunction
with the National Academy of Sciences Colloquium on Self-Organized
Complexity, March 23-24, 2001. Separate registration is required:
Registration for the course and conference is through NECSI and for
the Colloquium is through NAS. For detailed program and
registration information, visit
http://necsi.org/events/symposium/
- SwarmFest (April 2001):
- The fifth annual meeting of the Swarm user group (SwarmFest
2001) will be April 29-30 at the Hotel Santa Fe in Santa Fe, New
Mexico. For more information, visit
http://www.swarm.org/community-swarmfest.html
- Business-to-Business (May 2001):
- A workshop titled Agent-Based Approaches to
Business-to-Business (B2B) will be held at the 2001 International
Conference on Autonomous Agents (AGENTS2001) in Montreal, Canada, on
May 29, 2001. The focus will be on agent-based technologies for the
support and enhancement of online business services and of on-line
collaborations among businesses. For more information, visit
http://www.cs.georgetown.edu/~blakeb/AGENTS2001_AgentB2B.html
- Economics with Heterogeneous Interacting Agents (June 2001):
- The Sixth Annual Workshop on Economics with Heterogeneous
Interacting Agents will be held Jun 7-9, 2001, in Maastricht, the
Netherlands. For more information, visit
http://meritbbs.unimaas.nl/WEHIA/
- Society for Computational Economics: ACE Call for Papers (June 2001):
- The 7th International Conference of the Society for
Computational Economics (SCE 2001) will be held at the Department of
Economics, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, U.S.A., on June
28-30, 2001. Papers on topics related to Agent-Based Computational
Economics (ACE) are solicited for possible inclusion in one or more
special sessions at SCE 2001. The opening date for submissions is
January 31, 2001, and the deadline for submissions is March 1, 2001.
All submissions are required to be submitted electronically.
- For more information about the ACE call for papers for SCE
2001, see
http://www.econ.iastate.edu/tesfatsi/cefconf.htm
For more information about SCE 2001 in general, visit the SCE 2001 conference
site at
http://gemini.econ.yale.edu/conference/SCE2001/
- Computational Intelligence (July 2001):
- The International Conference on Computational Intelligence
for Modelling, Control and Automation (CIMCA'2001) will be held July
9-11, 2001, in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.A., in conjunction with the
International Conference on Intelligent Agents, Web Technologies and
Internet Commerce (IAWTIC'2001). For more information, visit
http://beth.canberra.edu.au/conferences/CIMCA2001/index.htm
and
http://beth.canberra.edu.au/conferences/IAWTIC2001/index.htm
- Agent Theories, Architectures, and Languages (August 2001):
- The Eighth International Workshop on Agent Theories,
Architectures, and Languages (ATAL-2001) will be held in Seattle,
August 1-3, 2001, Immediately before IJCAI-2001. For more
information, visit
http://www.atal.org/
- Internet Bots (September 2001):
- The International Workshop on Internet Bots: Systems and
Applications will be held in conjunction with the 12th International
Conference on Database and Expert Systems Applications (DEXA2001),
September 3-7, 2001, in Munich, Germany. For more information,
visit
http://www.ntu.edu.sg/home/awkng/inbosa2001.htm
- Economics and Management (September 2001):
- The 2001 IFAC Symposium on Modeling and Control of Economic
Systems (SME-2001), organized by the Department of Economics,
University of Klagenfurt, will be held September 6-8, 2001, in
Klagenfurt, Austria. Topics include theoretical and computational
methods and tools for decision and control in economics and
management. For more information, visit
http://www.econ.uni-klu.ac.at/sme2001/
- Cooperative Information Agents (September 2001):
- The Fifth International Workshop on Cooperative Information
Agents (CIA-2001) will be held September 6-8, 2001, in Modena, Italy
in cooperation with VLDB 2001. For more information, visit
http://www.dfki.de/~klusch/cia2001.html
- Simulating Societies (September 2001):
- A conference titled "Frontiers in Social Sciences
Simulations (SimSoc5)" will be held in Kazimierz Dolny, Poland,
September 21-23, 2001. Contributions are solicited on the following
themes: Institutions; cultural transmission and evolution;
organizational design and management; coordination; and the
emergence of language from a social science perspective. The
deadline for submissions is May 1, 2001. For more information,
visit
http://www.lps.ens.fr/~weisbuch/fanon.html
- Distributed Intelligence (September 2001):
- A conference titled Distributed Intelligence in Technology,
Economic and Social Applications (DI-TESA 2001) will be held
September 24-27, 2001, at the Rochester Institute of Technology, New
York, USA. For more information, visit
http://www.icsc.ab.ca/ditesa2001.htm
- Mobile Agents (December 2001):
- The 5th International Conference on Mobile Agents (MA 2001)
will be held December 2-4, 2001, in Atlanta, Georgia. For more
information, please visit
http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/MA2001/
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, 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 © 2001 Leigh Tesfatsion. All Rights Reserved.