Modeling the World in a Spreadsheet

Download or read book Modeling the World in a Spreadsheet written by Timothy John Cartwright and published by Baltimore, Md. : John Hopkins University Press. This book was released on 1993 with total page 440 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Until recently, simulation modeling was regarded as the domain of powerful computers and highly skilled programmers. But that is no longer the case. Thanks to the spreadsheet, simulation modeling is now accessible to anyone with a microcomputer: students and teachers, public officials, engineers and planners, and ordinary citizens concerned about the environment. In Modeling the World in a Spreadsheet, Timothy Cartwright explains how to create models of different environmental phenomena -- ranging from natural processes such as the dispersion of water and air pollution to social processes such as housing affordability. He also describes models for some of the most exciting topics in current computer research, including artificial life, cellular decision-making, and chaos and fractals. Written for both experts and nonexpert, the book provides complete "recipes" for building and running the models in the most popular spreadsheet programs, such as Lotus 1-2-3, SuperCalc, Excel, Quatro, and others. A 3" diskette containing Lotus or SuperCalc data files for all fourteen models may be ordered using a tear-out card that accompanies the book (spreadsheet software is required).