creators_name: Hartmann, Stephan
type: pittpreprint
datestamp: 2005-08-22
lastmod: 2010-10-07 15:13:33
metadata_visibility: show
title: The World as a Process: Simulations in the Natural and Social Sciences
subjects: models-and-idealization
subjects: economics
full_text_status: public
keywords: Models, simulations, idealizations
abstract: Simulation techniques, especially those implemented on a computer, are frequently employed in natural as well as in social sciences with considerable success. There is mounting evidence that the "model-building era" (J. Niehans) that dominated the theoretical activities of the sciences for a long time is about to be succeeded or at least lastingly supplemented by the "simulation era". But what exactly are models? What is a simulation and what is the difference and the relation between a model and a simulation? These are some of the questions addressed in this article. I maintain that the most significant feature of a simulation is that it allows scientists to imitate one process by another process. "Process" here refers solely to a temporal sequence of states of a system. Given the observation that processes are dealt with by all sorts of scientists, it is apparent that simulations prove to be a powerful interdisciplinarily acknowledged tool. Accordingly, simulations are best suited to investigate the various research strategies in different sciences more carefully. To this end, I focus on the function of simulations in the research process. Finally, a somewhat detailed case-study from nuclear physics is presented which, in my view, illustrates elements of a typical simulation in physics.
date: 2005-08
date_type: published
citation: Hartmann, Stephan (2005) The World as a Process: Simulations in the Natural and Social Sciences. [Preprint]
document_url: http://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/2412/1/Simulations.pdf