Epstein J., Axtell R. Growing Artificial Societies: Social Science From the Bottom Up

Brookings Institution Press, 1996. - 220 p.
How do social structures and group behaviors arise from the interaction of individuals? In this groundbreaking study, Joshua M. Epstein and Robert L. Axtell approach this age-old question with cutting-edge computer simulation techniques. Such fundamental collective behaviors as group formation, cultural transmission, combat, and trade are seen to "emerge" from the interaction of individual agents following simple local rules.