Samenvatting
This book presents and discusses a collection of mathematical models of social phenomena. It also introduces a number of strategies which might be considered when attempting to model complex phenomena. A historical introduction generally precedes the systematic expositions of each topic to provide some perspective to certain current social problems. Chapters are: Some introductory historical remarks; Populations, their growth and competition, and vital statistics; Probability distributions and their underlying mechanisms; Some aspects of speculation and the stock market; Vehicular traffic; Atmospheric pollution in cities; On the development of countries and the growth of cities.