Apologies for cross-posting
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Complexity in Social Dynamics, 24 January 2005,
Mathematics Institute, University of Warwick
Organisers: Robert MacKay (Maths, Warwick), Graham Room (Social Policy,
Bath)
This is the fifth in an ESRC and MIR@W-supported series on
Socio-Dynamics,
http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/economics/seminars/conferences/socio-economic_dynamics/,
whose aim is to cross-fertilise between social sciences and
mathematics (including statistics and physics), especially in the
area of dynamic self-organising systems. The purpose this time is to
enlarge the debate from economics, business and finance to sociology,
social policy, politics and geography. We hope that the workshop
will be interactive and informal with comment and discussion
interspersed. To establish some common ground, Philip Ball's article
"Utopia Theory" (Physics World, October 2003, pp.29-33,
http://physicsweb.org/articles/world/16/10/7) is recommended as prior
reading. A final conference will take place in London 9-11 May 2005.
13.15 Welcome and introduction, Robert MacKay
13.20 Philip Ball (Science writer; author of recent book "Critical Mass")
"Is there a physics of society?"
discussant: Graham Room
14.05 Nigel Gilbert (Sociology, Surrey; an author of "Simulation for
the social scientist")
"Computational social science"
discussant: Jonathan Cave (Economics)
14.50 Michael Batty (Geography and Director of Centre for Advanced
Spatial Analysis, UCL; author of "Fractal Cities")
"Scaling and emergence in city systems: what can statistical physics
tell us about cities?"
discussant: David Rand (Mathematics)
15.35 tea
16.05 Robert Geyer (Politics and Director of Centre for Complexity
Research, Liverpool; author of "Beyond the third way: the science of
complexity and the politics of choice", Brit J Pol Int Rel 5 (2003)
237)
"Using complexity to bridge the science-society gap"
discussant: David Firth (Statistics)
16.50 David Byrne (Social Policy, Durham; author of "Complexity
theory and the social sciences")
"How do we get there from here and which there is it we want to get to?"
discussant: Susan Hurley (Politics and International Relations)
17.35 Summing up, led by Graham Room
17.50 drinks and snacks
Abstracts will be posted via
http://www.maths.warwick.ac.uk/miraw/miraw_days.html
If you would like to attend, it would be helpful to let
[log in to unmask] know so we can estimate numbers.
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Prof R.S.MacKay FRS, Director of Mathematical Interdisciplinary Research,
B2.05 Mathematics Institute, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, U.K.
phone: +44 24 765 22218, FAX: +44 24 765 73948, sec: +44 24 765 23870
[log in to unmask] http://www.maths.warwick.ac.uk/~mackay
--
Professor Graham Room
Department of Social and Policy Sciences
University of Bath
BATH BA2 7AY
44-1225-386090
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