
Mathematical Modelling of Zombies
Robert Smith?(Editor)
University of Ottawa Press
Published on 14. October 2014
Book
Paperback/Softback
468 pages
978-0-7766-2210-1 (ISBN)
Description
You're outnumbered, in fear for your life, surrounded by flesheating zombies. What can save you now? Mathematics, of course.
Mathematical Modelling of Zombies engages the imagination to illustrate the power of mathematical modelling. Using zombies as a "hook," you'll learn how mathematics can predict the unpredictable. In order to be prepared for the apocalypse, you'll need mathematical models, differential equations, statistical estimations, discretetime models, and adaptive strategies for zombie attacks--as well as baseball bats and Dire Straits records (latter two items not included).
In Mathematical Modelling of Zombies, Robert Smith? brings together a highly skilled team of contributors to fend off a zombie uprising. You'll also learn how modelling can advise government policy, how theoretical results can be communicated to a nonmathematical audience and how models can be formulated with only limited information. A forward by Andrew Cartmel--former script editor of Doctor Who, author, zombie fan and all-round famous person in science-fiction circles--even provides a genealogy of the undead. By understanding how to combat zombies, readers will be introduced to a wide variety of modelling techniques that are applicable to other real-world issues (biology, epidemiology, medicine, public health, etc.).
So if the zombies turn up, reach for this book. The future of the human race may depend on it.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Canada
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Dimensions
Height: 254 mm
Width: 178 mm
Thickness: 18 mm
Weight
634 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-7766-2210-1 (9780776622101)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Without really intending, Robert Smith? appears to have accidentally created the subdiscipline of mathematical modelling of zombies. By day, he's a professor of biomathematics at the University of Ottawa, studying infectious diseases such as HIV, human papillomavirus and various tropical diseases. By night, he's a writer, having written or edited Outside In: 160 New Perspectives on 160 Classic Doctor Who Stories by 160 Writers (ATB Publishing, 2012), Who is the Doctor: The Unofficial Guide to the New Series (ECW Press, 2012), Braaaiiinnnsss: From Academics to Zombies (UOP, 2011), and Modelling Disease Ecology with Mathematics (American Institute of Mathematics Sciences, 2008).
Content
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- The Viral Spread of a Zombie Media Story Robert Smith?
- The Undead: A Plague on Humanity or a Powerful New Tool for Epidemiological Research? Jane M. Heffernan and Derek J. Wilson
- When Zombies Attack! Alternate Ending Phil Munz
- When Humans Strike Back! Adaptive Strategies for Zombie Attacks Bard Ermentrout and Kyle Ermentrout
- Increasing Survivability in a Zombie Epidemic Ben Tippett
- How Long Can We Survive? Thomas E. Woolley, Ruth E. Baker, Eamonn A. Gaffney and Philip K. Maini
- Demographics of Zombies in the United States Daniel Zelterman
- Is It Safe to Go Out Yet? Statistical Inference in a Zombie Outbreak Model Ben Calderhead, Mark Girolami and Desmond J. Higham
- The Social Zombie: Modelling Undead Outbreaks on Social Networks Laurent Hébert-Dufresne, Vincent Marceau, Pierre-André Noël, Antoine Allard and Louis J. Dubé
- Zombie Infection Warning System Based on Fuzzy Decision-Making Micael S. Couceiro, Carlos M. Figueiredo, J. Miguel A. Luz and Michael J. Delorme
- Is There a Zombicidal Maniac Near You? You'd Better Hope So! Nick Beeton, Alex Hoare and Brody Walker
- Zombies in the City: A NetLogo Model Jennifer Badham and Judy-Anne Osborn
- An Evolvable Linear Representation for Simulating Government Policy in Zombie Outbreaks Daniel Ashlock, Joseph Alexander Brown and Clinton Innes
- Baneling Dynamics in Legend of the Seeker Gergely Röst
- The Zombie Swarm: Epidemics in the Presence of Social Attraction and Repulsion Evelyn Sander and Chad M. Topaz