The Sciences of the Artificial
Published 1996 · 248 pages · 68,200 words · about 4 hours at an average pace · Science & Nature, Essays & Criticism, Nonfiction
How hard is The Sciences of the Artificial to read?
The Sciences of the Artificial scores 46 out of 100 for difficulty on ReadingRate, making it moderately challenging. The score is a weighted composite of nine measures: four of how hard the prose is to parse, five of how hard the meaning is to extract.
- Vocabulary: 42 out of 100
- Simon writes plain academic English and defines his terms, such as satisficing and bounded rationality. Occasional economics and computer science vocabulary appears, but it is far gentler than Orientalism-level theory prose.
- Sentence structure: 38 out of 100
- Sentences are clear and lecture-like, with moderate subordination and no stylistic experiment. Arguments move in short, orderly steps.
- Abstraction: 62 out of 100
- Simon discusses design, adaptation and complexity in general terms, but anchors them in the ant on the beach, thermostats, chess and organizations. The abstraction is higher than Atomic Habits and well below philosophical monologue.
- Information density: 58 out of 100
- Each chapter packs economics, psychology, computer science and engineering examples into a short space. At about 68,000 words the book compresses a lot, but its pace stays manageable.
How The Sciences of the Artificial is regarded
The Sciences of the Artificial holds a literary regard score of 71 out of 100, weighing its place in the canon, its critical reception, its influence on other writers, and the standing of its author. Regard is measured separately from difficulty: a demanding book is not necessarily an admired one.