The concept of agency (autonomous action) can and will be shown to have its roots in several scientific fields including ecology, economics, and statistical physics. The application of this concept owes much to the availability of inexpensive and abundant computer power, and has benefited from and contributed to the rise of a new branch of simulation science that buttresses the old stalwarts of theory and experiment. It is also contributing to a new branch of mathematics that is algorithmic rather than analytic in nature. Several applications will be discussed.

Bruce Sawhill is a computer scientist who has developed the demand forecasting for DayJet a new company that will provide on-demand air transportation. Unlike traditional forecasting, the problem here is to estimate demand for a service that does not yet exist.