The Sciences of the Artificial, third edition

by Herbert A. Simon

Overview

Continuing his exploration of the organization of complexity and the science of design, this new edition of Herbert Simon's classic work on artificial intelligence adds a chapter that sorts out the current themes and tools—chaos, adaptive systems, genetic algorithms—for analyzing complexity and complex systems. There are updates throughout the book as well. These take into account important advances in cognitive psychology and the science of design while confirming and extending the book's basic thesis: that a physical symbol system has the necessary and sufficient means for intelligent action. The chapter "Economic Reality" has also been revised to reflect a change in emphasis in Simon's thinking about the respective roles of organizations and markets in economic systems.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780262264495
Publisher:	MIT Press
Publication date:	09/26/1996
Series:	The MIT Press
Sold by:	Penguin Random House Publisher Services
Format:	eBook
Pages:	248
File size:	689 KB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Herbert A. Simon (1916–2001) was an influential psychologist and political scientist, awarded the 1978 Nobel Prize in Economics and the 1975 Turing Award (with Allen Newell). His many published books include Models of Bounded Rationality and Models of My Life (both published by the MIT Press)..

Table of Contents

Introduction John E. Laird ix

Preface to Third Edition xvii

Preface to Second Edition xix

1 Understanding the Natural and Artificial Worlds 1

2 Economic Rationality: Adaptive Artifice 25

3 The Psychology of Thinking: Embedding Artifice in Nature 51

4 Remembering and Learning: Memory as Environment for Thought 85

5 The Science of Design: Creating the Artificial 111

6 Social Planning: Designing the Evolving Artifact 139

7 Alternative Views of Complexity 169

8 The Architecture of Complexity: Hierarchic Systems 183

Name Index 217

Subject Index 221

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

People sometimes ask me what they should read to find out about artificial intelligence. Herbert Simon's book The Sciences of the Artificial is always on the list I give them. Every page issues a challenge to conventional thinking, and the layman who digests it well will certainly understand what the field of artificial intelligence hopes to accomplish. I recommend it in the same spirit that I recommend Freud to people who ask about psychoanalysis, or Piaget to those who ask about child psychology: if you want to learn about a subject, start by reading its founding fathers.

—George A. Miller, Complex Information Processing

Endorsement

People sometimes ask me what they should read to find out about artificial intelligence. Herbert Simon's book The Sciences of the Artificial is always on the list I give them. Every page issues a challenge to conventional thinking, and the layman who digests it well will certainly understand what the field of artificial intelligence hopes to accomplish. I recommend it in the same spirit that I recommend Freud to people who ask about psychoanalysis, or Piaget to those who ask about child psychology: if you want to learn about a subject, start by reading its founding fathers.

—George A. Miller, Complex Information Processing

Complex Information Processing - George A. Miller

People sometimes ask me what they should read to find out about artificial intelligence. Herbert Simon's book The Sciences of the Artificial is always on the list I give them. Every page issues a challenge to conventional thinking, and the layman who digests it well will certainly understand what the field of artificial intelligence hopes to accomplish. I recommend it in the same spirit that I recommend Freud to people who ask about psychoanalysis, or Piaget to those who ask about child psychology: if you want to learn about a subject, start by reading its founding fathers.