Railsback, S: Agent-Based and Individual-Based Modeling A Practical Introduction

Biologists ... have been relatively slow to take advantage of enhanced computing power and unlock the potential of these techniques. This book removes any excuse. Based on a course run by the authors, who both come from an ecological background, and building on an earlier, more conceptual book, this aims to provide the necessary tools to students and researchers. Frontiers of Biogeography This volume would be an excellent text for an introductory course in modeling as science, or for self-study by a mature researcher interested in learning about this important new way of doing science. -- H. Van Dyke Parunak JASSS This book represents something I have been waiting for some years now: a good and solid introduction to the field of individual- and agent-based models (hereafter IBM/ABM's). This book fulfills my needs, using a mix of theory and practical examples which seems to suit the topic well... [T]he book is not only a practical guide but also serves as a good introduction to the basics of 'healthy' programming. These authors are the right ones to do this as they have a strong background in the philosophical aspects as well as the practical issues of modeling. Basic and Applied Ecology Railsback and Grimm have done the heavy lifting required to establish a solid IBM course by providing a carefully crafted inquiry-based curriculum. This accomplishment removes a major impediment to the proliferation of IBM courses. Although the book seems aimed at a graduate-level course, I also do not see why an ambitious teacher with motivated students could not use this textbook as the basis of an upper-level undergraduate course in individual based modeling. Agent-based and individual-based modeling has the potential to foster an appreciation of the value and place of individual-based models in our field in the next generation of emerging ecologists (who already have computational leanings). -- Christopher X. Jon Jensen Ecology