The Perfect Swarm


Book Description

The IgNobel Prize-winner and author of Rock, Paper, Scissors applies science-based solutions to seemingly complex problems in life.




The Whispering Swarm


Book Description

Almost anyone who has read or written Science Fiction or fantasy has been inspired by the work of Michael Moorcock. His literary flair and grand sense of adventure have been evident since his controversial first novel Behold the Man, through the stories and novels featuring his most famous character, Elric of Melniboné, to his fantasy masterpiece, Gloriana, winner of both the Campbell Memorial and World Fantasy, awards for best novel. Neil Gaiman, Alan Moore, and Michael Chabon all cite Moorcock as a major influence; as editor of New Worlds magazine, he helped launch the careers of many of his contemporaries, including Harlan Ellison, Philip K. Dick, and J. G. Ballard. Tor Books now proudly presents Moorcock's first independent novel in nine years, a tale both fantastical and autobiographical, a celebration of London and what it meant to be young there in the years after World War II. The Whispering Swarm is the first in a trilogy that will follow a young man named Michael as he simultaneously discovers himself and a secret realm hidden deep in the heart of London. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.




Swarm Intelligence


Book Description

Social insects--ants, bees, termites, and wasps--can be viewed as powerful problem-solving systems with sophisticated collective intelligence. Composed of simple interacting agents, this intelligence lies in the networks of interactions among individuals and between individuals and the environment. A fascinating subject, social insects are also a powerful metaphor for artificial intelligence, and the problems they solve--finding food, dividing labor among nestmates, building nests, responding to external challenges--have important counterparts in engineering and computer science. This book provides a detailed look at models of social insect behavior and how to apply these models in the design of complex systems. The book shows how these models replace an emphasis on control, preprogramming, and centralization with designs featuring autonomy, emergence, and distributed functioning. These designs are proving immensely flexible and robust, able to adapt quickly to changing environments and to continue functioning even when individual elements fail. In particular, these designs are an exciting approach to the tremendous growth of complexity in software and information. Swarm Intelligence draws on up-to-date research from biology, neuroscience, artificial intelligence, robotics, operations research, and computer graphics, and each chapter is organized around a particular biological example, which is then used to develop an algorithm, a multiagent system, or a group of robots. The book will be an invaluable resource for a broad range of disciplines.




Rock, Paper, Scissors


Book Description

Praised by Entertainment Weekly as “the man who put the fizz into physics,” Dr. Len Fisher turns his attention to the science of cooperation in his lively and thought-provoking book. Fisher shows how the modern science of game theory has helped biologists to understand the evolution of cooperation in nature, and investigates how we might apply those lessons to our own society. In a series of experiments that take him from the polite confines of an English dinner party to crowded supermarkets, congested Indian roads, and the wilds of outback Australia, not to mention baseball strategies and the intricacies of quantum mechanics, Fisher sheds light on the problem of global cooperation. The outcomes are sometimes hilarious, sometimes alarming, but always revealing. A witty romp through a serious science, Rock, Paper, Scissors will both teach and delight anyone interested in what it what it takes to get people to work together.




Swarm


Book Description

A novel of military science fiction telling the story of Earth's annexation by an alien empire. Long considered a primitive people on a backwater planet, humanity finds itself in the middle of a war, and faced with extinction.




Fundamentals of Computational Swarm Intelligence


Book Description

Fundamentals of Computational Swarm Intelligence provides a comprehensive introduction to the new computational paradigm of Swarm Intelligence (SI), a field that emerged from biological research, and is now picking up momentum within the computational research community. Bio-inspired systems are becoming increasingly important research areas for computer scientists, engineers, economists, bioinformaticians, operational researchers, and many other disciplines. This book introduces the reader to the mathematical models of social insects collective behaviour, and shows how they can be used in solving optimization problems. Focusing on the algorithmic implementation of models of swarm behavior, this book: Examines how social network structures are used to exchange information among individuals, and how the aggregate behaviour of these individuals forms a powerful organism. Introduces a compact summary of the formal theory of optimisation. Outlines paradigms with relations to SI, including genetic algorithms, evolutionary programming, evolutionary strategies, cultural algorithms and co-evolution. Looks at the choreographic movements of birds in a flock as a basis for the Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) models, and provides an extensive treatment of different classes of PSO models. Shows how the behaviour of ants can be used to implement Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) algorithms to solve real-world problems including routing optimization, structure optimization, data mining and data clustering. Considers different classes of optimization problems, including multi-objective optimization, dynamic environments, discrete and continuous search spaces, constrained optimization, and niching. Includes an accompanying website containing Java classes and implementations of the different algorithms that can be used to test PSO and ACO algorithms: http://si.cs.up.ac.za The interdisciplinary nature of this field will make Fundamentals of Computational Swarm Intelligence an essential resource for readers with diverse backgrounds. In addition, it will be an excellent reference for computer scientists, practitioners in business or industry and researchers involved in the analysis, design and simulation of multibody systems. Advanced undergraduates and graduate students in artificial intelligence, collective intelligence and engineering will also find this book an invaluable tool.




Swarm


Book Description

As they celebrate the opening of their underground nightclub, the Zeroes, six teenagers with unique abilities, learn about the sinister power of Swarm, who uses a crowd's rage to kill--and who loves killing Zeroes.




Boombustology


Book Description

The new, fully-updated edition of the respected guide to understanding financial extremes, evaluating investment opportunities, and identifying future bubbles Now in its second edition, Boombustology is an authoritative, up-to-date guide on the history of booms, busts, and financial cycles. Engaging and accessible, this popular book helps investors, policymakers, and analysts navigate the radical uncertainty that plagues today’s uncertain investing and economic environment. Author Vikram Mansharamani, an experienced global equity investor and prominent Harvard University lecturer, presents his multi-disciplinary framework for identifying financial bubbles before they burst. Moving beyond the typical view of booms and busts as primarily economic occurrences, this innovative book offers a multidisciplinary approach that utilizes microeconomic, macroeconomic, psychological, political, and biological lenses to spot unsustainable dynamics. It gives the reader insights into the dynamics that cause soaring financial markets to crash. Cases studies range from the 17th Century Dutch tulip mania to the more recent US housing collapse. The numerous cross-currents driving today’s markets—trade wars, inverted yield curves, currency wars, economic slowdowns, dangerous debt dynamics, populism, nationalism, as well as the general uncertainties in the global economy—demand that investors, policymakers, and analysts be on the lookout for a forthcoming recession, market correction, or worse. An essential resource for anyone interested in financial markets, the second edition of Boombustology: Adopts multiple lenses to understand the dynamics of booms, busts, bubbles, manias, crashes Utilizes the common characteristics of past bubbles to assist in identifying future financial extremes Presents a set of practical indicators that point to a financial bubble, enabling readers to gauge the likelihood of an unsustainable boom Offers two new chapters that analyze the long-term prospects for Indian markets and the distortions being caused by the passive investing boom Includes a new foreword by James Grant, legendary editor of Grant's Interest Rate Observer A comprehensive exploration of how bubbles form and why they burst, Boombustology, 2nd Edition is packed with a wealth of new and updated information for individual and institutional investors, academics, students, policymakers, risk-managers, and corporate managers alike.




Electrigirl and the Deadly Swarm


Book Description

After honing her superpowers, rescuing her best friend, and defeating the evil Professor Macavity, Holly needs a vacation. But when a mysterious and deadly swarm attacks the beach, there's only one person that can save the day . . . ELECTRIGIRL!