Allen B. Downey - Modeling and Simulation in Python: An Introduction for Scientists and Engineers

An Introduction for Scientists and Engineers

by Allen B. Downey

San Francisco

MODELING AND SIMULATION IN PYTHON. Copyright 2023 by Allen B. Downey.

All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner and the publisher.

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ISBN-13: 978-1-7185-0216-1 (print)

ISBN-13: 978-1-7185-0217-8 (ebook)

Publisher: William Pollock

Managing Editor: Jill Franklin

Production Manager: Sabrina Plomitallo-Gonzlez

Production Editor: Jennifer Kepler

Developmental Editor: Alex Freed

Cover Illustrator: Gina Redman

Interior Design: Octopod Studios

Technical Reviewer: Valerie Barr

Copyeditor: Gary Smith

Proofreader: Lisa Devoto Farrell

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245 8th Street, San Francisco, CA 94103

phone: 1.415.863.9900

www.nostarch.com

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022049830

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No Starch Press and the No Starch Press logo are registered trademarks of No Starch Press, Inc. Other product and company names mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners. Rather than use a trademark symbol with every occurrence of a trademarked name, we are using the names only in an editorial fashion and to the benefit of the trademark owner, with no intention of infringement of the trademark.

The information in this book is distributed on an As Is basis, without warranty. While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this work, neither the author nor No Starch Press, Inc. shall have any liability to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by the information contained in it.

About the Author

Allen Downey is a staff scientist at DrivenData and professor emeritus at Olin College, where he taught Modeling and Simulation and other classes related to software and data science. He is the author of several textbooks, including Think Python, Think Bayes, and Elements of Data Science. Previously, he taught at Wellesley College and Colby College. He received his PhD in computer science from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1997. His undergraduate and masters degrees are from the civil engineering department at MIT. He is the author of Probably Overthinking It, a blog about data science and Bayesian statistics.

About the Technical Reviewer

Valerie Barr has spent more than a decade focusing on interdisciplinary applications and curricular strategies to expose students from all fields to computing. This has included developing and offering courses in modeling and simulation, data visualization, and other areas that now also cross into data science. She has a PhD in computer science from Rutgers University, held the Jean Sammet Chair at Mount Holyoke College, and now holds the Margaret Hamilton Chair at Bard College, where she is launching the Bard Network Computing Initiative.

CONTENTS IN DETAIL

PART I
DISCRETE SYSTEMS

1
INTRODUCTION TO MODELING

2
MODELING A BIKE SHARE SYSTEM

3
ITERATIVE MODELING

4
PARAMETERS AND METRICS

5
BUILDING A POPULATION MODEL

6
ITERATING THE POPULATION MODEL

7
LIMITS TO GROWTH

8
PROJECTING INTO THE FUTURE

9
ANALYSIS AND SYMBOLIC COMPUTATION

10
CASE STUDIES PART I

PART II
FIRST-ORDER SYSTEMS

11
EPIDEMIOLOGY AND SIR MODELS

12
QUANTIFYING INTERVENTIONS

13
SWEEPING PARAMETERS

14
NONDIMENSIONALIZATION

15
THERMAL SYSTEMS

16
SOLVING THE COFFEE PROBLEM

17
MODELING BLOOD SUGAR

18
IMPLEMENTING THE MINIMAL MODEL

19
CASE STUDIES PART II

PART III
SECOND-ORDER SYSTEMS

20
THE FALLING PENNY REVISITED

21
DRAG

22
TWO-DIMENSIONAL MOTION

23
OPTIMIZATION

24
ROTATION

25
TORQUE

26
CASE STUDIES PART III

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

My early work on this book benefited from conversations with my colleagues at Olin College, including John Geddes, Mark Somerville, Alison Wood, Chris Lee, and Jason Woodard.

I am grateful to Lisa Downey and Jason Woodard for their thoughtful and careful copyediting, and to Eoghan Downey and Jason Moore for their technical review.

Thanks to Alessandra Ferzoco, Erhardt Graeff, Emily Tow, Kelsey Houston-Edwards, Linda Vanasupa, Matt Neal, Joanne Pratt, and Steve Matsumoto for their helpful suggestions.

INTRODUCTION