Simulation: Pragmatic Constructions of Reality - Sociology of the Sciences Yearbook 2006 edition

Marc Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index. Table of Contents: Introduction Chapter 1: Computer Simulation: Practice, Epistemology, and Social Dynamics Gunter Kuppers, Johannes Lenhard, and Terry Shinn Imitating Models Chapter 2: The Shape of Molecules to Come, Ann Johnson Chapter 3: From Representation to Production: Parsers and Parsing in Language Technology, Tarja Knuuttila Chapter 4: Foundations for the Simulation of Ecosystems, Michael Hauhs and Holger Lange Chapter 5: Models, Models Everywhere, Don Ihde Layers of Integration Chapter 6: From Hierarchical to Network-Like Integration: A Revolution of Modeling Style in Computer-Simulation, Gunter Kuppers and Johannes Lenhard Chapter 7: The Difference Between Answering a Why Question and Answering a How Much Question, Marcel Boumans Chapter 8: Struggle Between Specificity and Generality: How Do Infectious Disease Models Become a Simulation Platform? Erika Mattila Chapter 9: Handshaking Your Way to the Top: Simulation at the Nanoscale, Eric Winsberg Social Practice Chapter 10: Locating the Dry Lab on the Lab Map, Martina Merz Chapter 11: Simulation Uncertainty and the Challenge of Postnormal Science Arthur C. Petersen Chapter 12: When is Simulation a Research Technology? Practices, Markets, and Lingua Franca, Terry Shinn List of Authors Biographical Notes, Name Index"Jacket Description/Back: This book examines the historical roots and evolution of simulation from an epistemological, institutional and technical perspective. Rich case studies go far beyond documentation of simulation s capacity for application in many domains, they also explore the "functional" and "structural" debate that continues to traverse simulation thought and action. One here asks if simulation deeply transforms science, or instead constitutes a limited tool that principally extends the repertory of erstwhile practice. Does simulation comprise a novel form of experiment, or rather operate as a mechanism which extends standing forms of experimentation? What are simulation s relations with models or theory, for example? These studies further query to what extent and in what ways simulation may be regarded as a discipline, a special species of instrument, or as transdisciplinary. "