Turtles, Termites, and Traffic Jams: Explorations in Massively Parallel Microworlds / Edition 1

by Mitchel Resnick

Overview

How does a bird flock keep its movements so graceful and synchronized? Most people assume that the bird in front leads and the others follow. In fact, bird flocks don't have leaders: they are organized without an organizer, coordinated without a coordinator. And a surprising number of other systems, from termite colonies to traffic jams to economic systems, work the same decentralized way. Turtles, Termites, and Traffic Jams describes innovative new computational tools that can qhelp people (even young children) explore the workings of such systems—and help them move beyond the centralized mindset.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780262680936
Publisher:	MIT Press
Publication date:	01/22/1997
Series:	Complex Adaptive Systems
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	184
Sales rank:	691,317
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.38(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Mitchel Resnick, an expert in educational technologies, is Professor of Learning Research at the MIT Media Lab.His research group develops the Scratch programming software and online community, the world's largest coding platform for kids. He has worked closely with the LEGO company on educational ideas and products, such as the LEGO Mindstorms robotics kits, and he cofounded the Computer Clubhouse project, an international network of after-school learning centers for youth from low-income communities.

What People are Saying About This

Sherry Turkle

Mitchel Resnick's book is one of the very few in the field ofcomputing with an interdisciplinary discourse that can reach beyondthe technical community to philsophers, psychologists, and historiansand sociologists of science.

Endorsement

Mitchel Resnick's book is one of the very few in the field ofcomputing with an interdisciplinary discourse that can reach beyondthe technical community to philsophers, psychologists, and historiansand sociologists of science.

—Sherry Turkle, Professor, Program in Science, Technology, and Society, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

From the Publisher

Mitchel Resnick's book is one of the very few in the field ofcomputing with an interdisciplinary discourse that can reach beyondthe technical community to philsophers, psychologists, and historiansand sociologists of science.

—Sherry Turkle, Professor, Program in Science, Technology, and Society, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Editorial Reviews

"Mitchel Resnick's book is one of the very few in the field of computing with an interdisciplinary discourse that can reach beyond the technical community to philsophers, psychologists, and historians and sociologists of science."--Sherry Turkle, Professor, Program in Science, Technology, and Society, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

& quot; Mitchel Resnick's book is one of the very few in the field of computing with an interdisciplinary discourse that can reach beyond the technical community to philsophers, psychologists, and historians and sociologists of science.& quot; -- Sherry Turkle, Professor, Program in Science, Technology, and Society, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

" Mitchel Resnick's book is one of the very few in the field of computing with an interdisciplinary discourse that can reach beyond the technical community to philsophers, psychologists, and historians and sociologists of science." -- Sherry Turkle, Professor, Program in Science, Technology, and Society, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

-- Sherry Turkle, Professor, Program in Science, Technology, and Society, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

From the Publisher