Models of My Life

"As much as any one person, Herbert A. Simon has shaped the intellectual agenda of the human and social sciences in the second half of the 20th century .... For many readers, Mr. Simon's view of human endeavor, of love and of work, will seem emblematic not of the pre-Freudian rationalism-that-was but a new, sleeker, rationalism-to-be--a rationalism purged of utopian excess, committed to empirical studies, and wedded to the most modern technology."--Sherry Turkle, "New York Times Book Review" & quot; As much as any one person, Herbert A. Simon has shaped the intellectual agenda of the human and social sciences in the second half of the 20th century .... For many readers, Mr. Simon's view of human endeavor, of love and of work, will seem emblematic not of the pre-Freudian rationalism-that-was but a new, sleeker, rationalism-to-be -- a rationalism purged of utopian excess, committed to empirical studies, and wedded to the most modern technology.& quot; -- Sherry Turkle, New York Times Book Review " As much as any one person, Herbert A. Simon has shaped the intellectual agenda of the human and social sciences in the second half of the 20th century .... For many readers, Mr. Simon's view of human endeavor, of love and of work, will seem emblematic not of the pre-Freudian rationalism-that-was but a new, sleeker, rationalism-to-be -- a rationalism purged of utopian excess, committed to empirical studies, and wedded to the most modern technology." -- Sherry Turkle, "New York Times Book Review" -- Sherry Turkle, "New York Times Book Review"

Herbert A. Simon (1916-2001) was an influential psychologist and political scientist, awarded the 1978 Nobel Prize in Economics and the 1975 Turing Award (with Allen Newell). His many published books include Models of Bounded Rationality and Models of My Life (both published by the MIT Press)..

Part I Journey to a 21st birthday: the boy in Wisconsin; forests and fields; education in Chicago; encounter with a scientific revolution - political science at Chicago. Part II The scientist as a young man: a taste of research - the City Managers' Association; managing research - Berkeley; teaching at Illinois Tech; a matter of loyalty; building a business school - the Graduate School of Industrial Administration; research and science politics; mazes without minotaurs; roots of artificial intelligence; climbing the mountain - artificial intelligence achieved. Part III View from the mountain: exploring the plain; personal threads in the warp; creating a university environment for cognitive science and A.I.; on being argumentative; the student troubles; the scientist as politician; foreign adventures. Part IV Research after 60: from Nobel to now; the amateur diplomat in China and the Soviet Union; guides for choice. Afterword: the scientist as problem solver.