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Susan Stepney · Fiona A.C. Polack

Engineering
Simulations as
Scientific Instruments:
A Pattern Language
With Kieran Alden, Paul S. Andrews,
James L. Bown, Alastair Droop,
Richard B. Greaves, Mark Read,
Adam T. Sampson, Jon Timmis,
Alan F.T. Winfield
Engineering Simulations as Scientific Instruments:
A Pattern Language
Susan Stepney • Fiona A.C. Polack

Engineering Simulations
as Scientific Instruments:
A Pattern Language
With Kieran Alden, Paul S. Andrews,
James L. Bown, Alastair Droop,
Richard B. Greaves, Mark Read,
Adam T. Sampson, Jon Timmis,
Alan F.T. Winfield
Susan Stepney Fiona A.C. Polack
Dept. of Computer Science School of Computing and Mathematics
University of York Keele University
York, UK Newcastle-under-Lyme, UK

Written in collaboration with Kieran Alden, Paul S. Andrews, James L. Bown, Alastair Droop,
Richard B. Greaves, Mark Read, Adam T. Sampson, Jon Timmis and Alan F.T. Winfield.

ISBN 978-3-030-01937-2 ISBN 978-3-030-01938-9 (eBook)

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-01938-9

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018961032

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2018

This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of
the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation,
broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information
storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology
now known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication
does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant
protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this
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or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any
errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional
claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
Preface

Computer-based simulation is a key tool in many fields of scientific research.

In silico experiments can be used to explore and understand complex pro-
cesses, to guide and complement in vitro and in vivo experiments, to suggest
new hypotheses to investigate, and to predict results where experiments are
infeasible. Simulation is an attractive, accessible tool: producing new simu-
lations of simple systems is relatively easy. But it is also a dangerous one:
simulations (and their underlying models) are often complex, buggy, and
difficult to relate to the real world system.
A recent UK Government report on computational modelling ([95], con-
densed as [44]) makes several recommendations, including
Decision-makers need to be intelligent customers for models, and those that sup-
ply models should provide appropriate guidance to model users to support proper
use and interpretation. This includes providing suitable model documentation de-
tailing model purpose, assumptions, sensitivities, and limitations, and evidence of
appropriate quality assurance.

In this book we describe the CoSMoS (Complex Systems Modelling and

Simulation) approach, a pattern-based approach to engineering trustworthy
simulations: simulations that are both scientifically useful to the researcher,
and scientifically credible to third parties. The CoSMoS approach emphas-
ises three key aspects to this development of a simulation as a scientific instru-
ment: the use of models to capture the scientific domain and the simulation
platform; the use of arguments to provide evidence that the scientific instru-
ment is fit for purpose; and the close co-working of domain scientists and
simulation software engineers.
The CoSMoS approach is generic: it does not mandate a particular mod-
elling technique, a particular implementation language, or a particular real
world application domain. What it does mandate is the careful and struc-

v
vi Preface

tured use of models and arguments, to ensure that the simulation is both
well-engineered, and seen to be well-engineered.
The book is useful for domain scientists who wish to see what is needed
to build and use scientifically credible simulations, and for software engin-
eers who wish to build scientific simulations that are useful and usable. The
examples in the book focus mainly on biological simulations, to exploit the
specific experience of the authors, but the CoSMoS approach is not restricted
to this domain. The approach we describe is also useful for building simula-
tions as part of the process of building engineered systems. There are some
differences between scientific simulation (crudely, simulating the world as
it is) and engineering design simulation (simulating the world as we wish
it to be), but much of the approach is common. These differences are noted
when they occur.

What this book is not

This is not a book about software engineering. Where we advocate particu-

lar software engineering approaches and good practices for building simu-
lations, we mention them in the endnotes1 and refer to standard literature
discussing them.
Neither is this a book about specific modelling approaches or notations2 ,
whether mathematical, computational, or otherwise. Again, there is much
excellent literature available on specific modelling techniques, to which we
refer.
Nor is it a book about experimental methods, although the simulations
are used to perform (numerical, virtual) experiments in a way analogous to
real world experiments.
Nor is it a book about developing bio-inspired algorithms (which are ab-
stractions of biology, but not simulations of biology).

What this book is

This is a book about how to combine well-established approaches in a

manner that leads to a robust and argued-trustworthy simulation: how to
combine modelling to build an appropriate scientific instrument, software
engineering to build the instrument appropriately, and experimental tech-
niques to use the instrument appropriately for scientific investigation.
Preface vii

Part I provides a managerial overview: the rationale for and benefits of

using the CoSMoS approach, and a small worked example to demonstrate
the approach in action.
Part II is a catalogue of the core CoSMoS patterns. Start your project at the
CoSMoS Simulation Project (92) pattern, and follow the guidance, using the
other referenced patterns as your specific context demands. The develop-
ment and use of a simulation as a scientific instrument will probably include
most of these core patterns.
Part III is a catalogue of “helper” patterns. These are more specific pat-
terns of use only in certain domains, for certain purposes, or with certain
modelling and implementation approaches. Use of these is not required to
develop a CoSMoS simulation, but they provide possible routes for doing
so.
Part IV documents CellBranch, a substantial case study developed using
the CoSMoS approach.

Acknowledgements

The original CoSMoS (Complex Systems Modelling and Simulation) re-

search project (2007–2012) was funded by the UK’s Engineering and Phys-
ical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), grant numbers EP/E053505/1 and
EP/E049419/1, with additional support from Microsoft Research and Celox-
ica. The CellBranch research project (2014–2015) was funded by the UK’s
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), grant
number BB/L018705/1.
A list of CoSMoS publications and associated tools is available in the end-
notes3 .
The York Computational Immunology Lab (YCIL) is using CoSMoS for
many of its projects. It has made extensive material available, including sim-
ulations, simulation analysis tools, and fitness-for-purpose argumentation
tools, available at www.york.ac.uk/computational-immunology/software/.
The author team have made substantial and various contributions to the
CoSMoS project, to the CellBranch project, to YCIL projects, and during all
stages of the development of this book. In addition to their overall work on
the structure, writing, and editing of this book, they have had the following
specific roles on the projects, and, as far as can be determined from such a
joint effort, have made the following specific contributions to the book:
• Susan Stepney (Principal Investigator of CoSMoS and CellBranch): de-
veloper of the detailed pattern language structure
viii Preface

• Fiona Polack (Co-Investigator of CoSMoS): developer of the detailed ar-

gumentation pattern suite
• Kieran Alden (Research Associate applying CoSMoS in YCIL): contrib-
utor to Calibration and Sensitivity Analysis patterns
• Paul Andrews (Research Associate on CoSMoS): developer of the initial
CoSMoS philosophy, process, phases, and high-level models: contrib-
utor to Chapter 1
• James Bown (advisory member of CoSMoS): contributor to Chapter 2
• Alastair Droop (owner of the AlKan worked example in Chapter 3): con-
tributor to Chapter 3
• Richard Greaves (Research Associate on CellBranch): developer of Part
IV
• Mark Read (then PhD student applying CoSMoS in YCIL): contributor
to Calibration and Sensitivity Analysis patterns
• Adam Sampson (Research Associate on CoSMoS): contributor to docu-
mentation and real world patterns
• Jon Timmis (Co-Investigator of CoSMoS; applying CoSMoS in YCIL):
contributor to Chapter 1
• Alan Winfield (advisory member of CoSMoS): contributor to Chapter 2,
embodied simulation pattern, and several antipatterns
We thank all our other CoSMoS project partners, CoSMoS workshop con-
tributors, CoSMoS case study domain scientists and simulation engineers,
and in particular Christopher Alexander, Frederick Barnes, Sabine Diet-
mann, Fiona Frame, Philip Garnett, Teodor Ghetiu, Julianne D. Halley, Tim
Hoverd, Norman J. Maitland, Carl G. Ritson, Austin Smith, and Peter H.
Welch.

Susan Stepney, Fiona Polack

York, UK, 2018
Contents

Part I Overview of the CoSMoS approach

1 CoSMoS: rationale and concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

1.1 Why CoSMoS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.2 Complex systems simulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.3 Simulation as a scientific instrument . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.4 Simulations in engineering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.5 Working together . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.6 Pattern language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
1.7 The CoSMoS concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

2 What’s in it for me? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

2.1 Why this chapter, and why us? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
2.2 What challenges do we face . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
2.3 What can the CoSMoS approach do to help? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
2.4 Summary and future perspectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

3 The CoSMoS approach in miniature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

3.1 Introduction – a running example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
3.2 The CoSMoS Simulation Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
3.3 Discovery phase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
3.4 Development phase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
3.5 Exploration phase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
3.6 Argue instrument fit for purpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
3.7 Real world simulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

ix
x Contents

Part II The Core CoSMoS Pattern Language

4 The CoSMoS simulation pattern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

4.1 Catalogue of top level patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
4.2 Phase patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
4.3 Role patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
4.4 Generic patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
4.5 Antipatterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

5 Discovery phase patterns: building the domain model . . . . . . . . . . 117

5.1 Catalogue of discovery phase patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
5.2 Context setting patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
5.3 Domain modelling patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
5.4 Antipatterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137

6 Development phase patterns: developing the platform . . . . . . . . . . 147

6.1 Catalogue of development phase patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
6.2 Platform modelling patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
6.3 Implementation patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
6.4 Antipatterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169

7 Exploration phase patterns: using the platform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173

7.1 Catalogue of exploration phase patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
7.2 Model and usage patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
7.3 Antipatterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182

8 Structured argumentation patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185

8.1 Catalogue of argumentation patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
8.2 Argument patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
8.3 Basic structured argument patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
8.4 Generic argument patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200

Part III The CoSMoS Helper Patterns

9 Modelling and Documentation Patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207

9.1 Catalogue of patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
9.2 Modelling approaches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
9.3 Communication and documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217

10 Real world simulation patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227

10.1 Catalogue of patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
10.2 Development process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
10.3 Engineered systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238
Contents xi

10.4 Large scale development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240

Part IV CellBranch Case Study

11 Introduction to the CellBranch simulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249

12 CellBranch: increment 1: single transcription factor . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251

13 CellBranch: increment 1: Discovery Phase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253

13.1 Discovery Phase > Research Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253
13.2 Discovery Phase > Domain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259
13.3 Discovery Phase > Domain Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264

14 CellBranch: increment 1: Development Phase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275

14.1 Development Phase > revisit Research Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
14.2 Development Phase > Platform Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
14.3 Development Phase > Simulation Platform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277

15 CellBranch: increment 1: Exploration Phase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281

15.1 Exploration Phase > revisit Research Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281
15.2 Exploration Phase > Results Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281
15.3 Exploration Phase > revisit Simulation Purpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289

16 CellBranch: increment 2: multiple transcription factors . . . . . . . . . . 291

17 CellBranch: increment 2: Discovery Phase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293

17.1 Discovery Phase > Research Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293
17.2 Discovery Phase > Domain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296
17.3 Discovery Phase > Domain Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297

18 CellBranch: increment 2: Development Phase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305

18.1 Development Phase > revisit Research Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305
18.2 Development Phase > Platform Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305
18.3 Development Phase > Simulation Platform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306

19 CellBranch: increment 2: Exploration Phase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311

19.1 Exploration Phase > revisit Research Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311
19.2 Exploration Phase > Results Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311
19.3 Exploration Phase > revisit Simulation Purpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322

20 CellBranch: Lessons and code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323

20.1 CoSMoS lessons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323
20.2 The Simulation Platform code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324
xii Contents

Part V Appendices

Endnotes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327

References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353
 Part I
Overview of the CoSMoS approach
The first part of this book provides a managerial overview: the rationale for
and benefits of using the CoSMoS approach, and a small worked example
to demonstrate the approach in action.
Chapter 1
CoSMoS: rationale and concepts

Abstract — In which we discuss: why CoSMoS is needed; simulation as a

scientific instrument; the use of a pattern language to define CoSMoS; in-
terdisciplinary collaboration; and the underlying concepts of the CoSMoS
approach to complex systems modelling and simulation.

1.1 Why CoSMoS

Biological systems, social systems, the entire planetary system: these are
complex systems comprising large numbers of components of diverse kinds,
with complex behaviours, non-linear dynamics, and non-intuitive emergent
properties. Computer simulation provides a mechanism for exploring such
systems. In this context, a computer simulation is an executable form of a
model of a system, used to animate the dynamics implicit in the model, and
determine its consequences.
Systems that have mathematical models based on well-understood phys-
ical theories can be ‘solved’, occasionally analytically, more usually numer-
ically. However, complex systems typically do not have such a basis of
well-understood theories. Models of such systems typically have a “nest-
like” structure [151], weaving together data and sub-models from multiple
sources, incorporating hypothesised components and mechanisms, all form-
ing a more-or-less robust structure. With such a nest-like, complicated, and
potentially opaque model, it is essential to have an open and rigorous pro-
cess for developing and using simulations, in order for there to be any con-
fidence in the results, and to allow the results to be challenged in a prin-
cipled manner.

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2018 3

S. Stepney, F.A.C. Polack, Engineering Simulations as Scientific
Instruments: A Pattern Language, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-01938-9_1
4 1 CoSMoS: rationale and concepts

Before embarking on any specific use of simulation, it is worth remember-

ing that a computer simulation is only as good as its underlying model and
data “nest”. A simulation is exercising the model, not reality [60]. Any predic-
tion it makes about the consequences of its model should be tested against
the real world [140]. We advocate using simulation to test the model: if model
predictions and real world observations diverge, the model needs to be re-
vised. This may require new real world experiments, to provide new data
and structures to update hypothesised components of the nest-like model.
Such use of simulation forms a crucial part of hypothesis-driven research
life-cycle in, for example, systems biology [141]. In this case, it is essential to
have a rigorous process for updating and clarifying the underlying models,
and ensuring the simulation is faithful to the specific model under test.
CoSMoS, Complex Systems Modelling and Simulation, provides such a
process.
The rest of this chapter describes the conceptual basis for CoSMoS: the
need for a set of rigorous models developed for a given scientific purpose, and
an associated fitness-for-purpose argument, defined using a pattern language.
Chapter 2 gives further motivation for CoSMoS from two distinct applica-
tion domains: systems biology, and robot development. Chapter 3 gives an
overview of the entire CoSMoS approach in miniature, by use of a small
example development, tailored to illustrate the core CoSMoS components.
Parts II and III form the core of the book, detailing the CoSMoS pattern lan-
guage; Part IV is a substantial case study illustrating the use of the entire
CoSMoS approach.

1.2 Complex systems simulation

We use the term model to refer to any abstraction that is made to explicitly de-
scribe or define concepts for the purpose of communication, documentation
and/or understanding. Such models are typically static and aim to capture
structures and behaviours within and among their subject components, or
data relating to those components.
This book is concerned with constructing and using “mechanistic” style
simulations, encoding a logical model of hypothesised behaviour in order to
execute and explore that model. Such a simulation can be interrogated and
observed, providing insight into the model, and the subject of the model.
Simulation can support scientific exploration in numerous ways includ-
ing communication, theory exploration, hypothesis generation, and design
of real world experimentation. This is best achieved through close collab-
1.3 Simulation as a scientific instrument 5

oration between scientists and simulation engineers, who together shape

the purpose and use of simulation. The ideas laid out in this book provide
an approach to augmenting the traditional experimental scientific approach
through engineering a bespoke instrument, the simulation, in order to con-
tribute to the understanding of the system of study. Consequently, we must
have confidence that the simulation can actually tell us something about the
real domain.
CoSMoS addresses the issue of trusting simulation outputs by provid-
ing advice that makes explicit how the simulation platform has been en-
gineered and used to generate its outputs. This exposes the work to review
and challenge, helps to provide scientifically reproducible results, and max-
imises the impact of simulation in science. It is the duty of the simulation
engineer to make the tools they develop as accessible as possible without
trying to deceive: just because the simulation results look like the system
being modelled, does not make them correct, and certainly does not mean
that they can be extrapolated to hold in unstudied real world scenarios. Care
is required to enable the scientific audience to understand: how to use the
developed simulation technology; how it works and upon which abstrac-
tions it is built; and how to apply its outputs to real world systems of study.
Higher levels of trust are more expensive: they require more rigorous de-
velopment practices, and more rigorous argumentation. The level of trust
demonstrated for the simulation should be appropriate to the criticality of
the simulation, which largely depends on how the results are to be used.

1.3 Simulation as a scientific instrument

We take the view that computer simulations are in many ways a kind of sci-
entific instrument, like those used throughout science. Hence computer simu-
lations should be subject to the same rigour that goes into constructing other
kinds of scientific instrument. They need to be calibrated to understand how
the outputs relate to the system under study, and they should be presented
in such a way that their findings can be reproduced.
To this end, we distinguish the Simulation Platform, being the simulation
code that can be used as an instrument to explore the relevant model, from
the Simulation Experiment, being the use of that instrument to perform a spe-
cific investigation.
Simulations are based on an underlying model used to represent the sys-
tem or domain under investigation [79, 123]. Simulation results are driven
by this underlying model, and are not (directly) connected to the phys-
6 1 CoSMoS: rationale and concepts

ical reality being modelled [60]. However, that is increasingly the case with
many of the more sophisticated scientific instruments in use today, from
fMRI medical scanners to the LIGO gravitational wave detectors: meas-
ured results undergo significant processing either in the instrument, or sub-
sequently, based on some underlying (and potentially opaque) model. So
simulation as a scientific instrument can be thought of as being at one end
of a spectrum of distance from reality, not as a complete difference in kind
from other scientific instruments.
Simulations are built for a purpose; there are many different purposes.
Galton [83] outlines four potential uses for simulation: prediction (run the
simulation from present data to predict the future), explanation (run the sim-
ulation from past data to explain the present state), retrodiction (run the sim-
ulation from hypothesised past data to test the hypothesis), planning (run
the simulation from a planned near future state to test if it results in the
desired goal). Epstein [65] lists 16 reasons to build a model beyond that
of prediction, including discovering new questions, demonstrating whether
the model conforms to reality, and for training and education. For example,
one may construct a simulation to investigate the emergence of observed
natural phenomena from hypothesised underlying behavioural processes.
Such simulations may explore scientific questions about real world phys-
ical, biological or social systems; the results may be used to inform real
world experimentation on the system being investigated, to validate such
experimentation, or simply to explore concrete or abstract hypotheses. Dif-
ferent purposes will result in different simulation instruments being built:
the purpose must be clearly articulated.
Learning takes place during both construction and manipulation of the
model that underlies the simulation. In the simplest scenario, model con-
struction results in the simulation computer code, and model manipulation
takes the form of in silico experimentation. During the former we learn about
the system and gain an idea of the questions we wish to ask of it; during
the latter we explore these questions and enhance our understanding of the
model upon which the simulator is based.
The construction of scientific instruments, like simulations, is based on a
model of our understanding of a target system. For example, in order for an
optical telescope to be constructed, we need to understand how light refracts
using lenses. Here the model is embedded within the physical construc-
tion of the lens, and by mechanical adjustment of the instrument, the hu-
man observer is presented with magnified images of the telescope’s target.
Compared to traditional scientific instruments, the model of understand-
ing embedded within a computer simulation is almost entirely logical and
achieved in software. Additionally, input from the domain of investigation
1.3 Simulation as a scientific instrument 7

to a simulation is far more indirect with regard to space and time in the
sense that no direct physical input is present. Again, we rely on logical con-
nections to the domain rather than direct physical inputs. This results in an
additional layer of interpretation required to understand how the inputs of
computer simulations map to the entities of the domain under investigation.
Understanding the relationship between an instrument and the domain
it measures is essential to interpreting its output. To achieve this, an in-
strument is calibrated to produce outputs that are meaningful to the hu-
man observer. Calibration relies on correctly observing and reproducing the
structure of known features measured by the instrument [123]. Simulators
are essentially unique bespoke instruments constructed to answer a specific
question or set of questions. The purposes of these instruments are various,
and therefore calibration is different for each individual simulator. When
changes are made to a simulator it may have to be re-calibrated.
Rigorous calibration is a first step towards achieving scientific reprodu-
cibility, the need for which is becoming apparent within scientific simula-
tion. Timmer [216] describes the beginning of a movement towards research-
ers adopting approaches to ensure that computational tools are in line with
existing scientific methods. However, whilst there may be a recognition that
nearly everyone doing science uses some form of computation, there are few
who know what is needed to make sure that documentation of approaches
is sufficient for reproducibility.
Exact reproducibility of a piece of science performed using computer sim-
ulation without access to the computer code and all the initialising variables
(parameter settings, initial states of data) is unlikely. This gives support to
the argument for complete openness of code [125]. There is another equally
crucial source of knowledge that should also be open. The simulation en-
codes a model. This model may be implicit: expressed only via its encoding
as computer code. It contains many different assumptions which are essen-
tial to understanding what the model represents. This is an issue of validation
[201]1 : how you know that you have built the right system for your purpose.
This can only ever be expressed as a level of confidence. In some circum-
stances, for example where outputs of a simulation instrument have a high
level of criticality, a structured argument is required to express confidence
in a computer simulation [181], and for this, the model must be explicit.
In the aftermath of ‘Climategate’ [111], the spotlight is more closely on the
way in which scientists use computational devices as part of their scientific
process. There have been calls for open-source code to enable repeatability,
but in our view this is not enough. We need also to make the models and
their assumption open, the calibration open, and openly argue the fitness
of a simulation for a particular purpose. We need to demonstrate how the
8 1 CoSMoS: rationale and concepts

simulation has been engineered, and why it is a good instrument to enhance

our domain knowledge.
In biological and other scientific research publications, “methods and ma-
terials” are a prominent section in any experimental paper, describing how
relatively well-known and commonly used processes are pieced together for
the described experiment. Rarely does any analogous material find a place
in simulation literature (the ODD protocol [103, 104] is a welcome excep-
tion), and certainly not at the same level of detail. And because in simulation
much is bespoke, there is less scope to rely on pre-existing and well-accepted
“modules” in describing the work.
CoSMoS provides a framework for making all these aspects open, and
documentable, at the appropriate level of rigour.

1.4 Simulations in engineering

Simulation also plays an essential role of simulation in engineering and tech-

nology. There are many applications of simulation technology across engin-
eering research, design and operation, and more broadly for training and
entertainment (video games). Here we outline a number of illustrative ex-
amples. CoSMoS can also be used as an approach for building such engin-
eering simulations.

1.4.1 Training and video games

Perhaps one of the earliest applications of simulation technology was as

part of professional flight simulators. From the 1960s digital computers
have provided the computation, typically combined with a realistic cock-
pit mounted on a motion (Stewart) platform, and visual displays providing
the pilot(s) with the view from the cockpit windows. A flight simulator is
required to model, to a high degree of accuracy and in real-time, the flight
dynamics of the aircraft and its systems (including engines). In response to
the flight controls, the simulator must generate realistic values for the cock-
pit instruments and update the Out-The-Window (OTW) visual scene. A
characteristic of the flight simulator is that it is designed to be immersive;
a flight simulator is thus an example of immersive simulation environment
more often known by the term Virtual Reality [190].
Even for video games that do not provide an immersive environment,
the computational and graphical performance of personal computers and
games consoles provides a level of performance, in respect of modelling the
1.4 Simulations in engineering 9

OTW view, that approaches that of professional training simulators. Flying

and driving simulators represent a class of video games noted for realism, to
the extent that a winner of a racing simulation video game contest secured
the chance to race for real, achieving creditable performance on the basis of
skills apparently learned from the video game Gran Turismo [97].

1.4.2 Engineering Research

Simulation has become an essential tool in robotics research and develop-

ment. Typically a robot simulator has four key features: (i) it provides a vir-
tual world, such as a 3D model of the real world, modelling physics, col-
lisions, etc; (ii) it provides a facility for creating a virtual model of the real
robot, modelling its structural components, actuators and sensors with reas-
onable fidelity; (iii) it allows the robot’s software controller to be installed
and ‘run’ on the virtual robot in the virtual world, and ideally it is possible
to install and run the same control code on the real robot; (iv) it provides a
visualisation of the virtual world and the simulated robots (and other ob-
jects) in it.
In a well-designed robot simulator we can develop and prototype new
robot designs (both hardware and software), research new robot control al-
gorithms, including algorithms for multi-robot systems, and, by placing the
simulator within a Genetic Algorithm framework, artificially evolve new
robot designs.
Well known robot simulators include the open source Player/Stage tools
[87] and the commercial simulator Webots [162]. These are examples of so-
called sensor- and physics-based simulators, in which a reasonable trade-
off between the accuracy with which robot sensors and actuators, and their
interactions, are modelled and run-time speed of the simulation has to be
achieved. The “reality gap” between the simulated model and the real world
represents a challenge to robotics researchers, and is discussed in detail in
§2.3.1.

1.4.3 Engineering and Process Design

In electronics design the use of simulation tools for both analogue and di-
gital electronics circuit design is very well established. The well-known elec-
tronics circuit simulation SPICE (Simulation Program with Integrated Cir-
cuit Emphasis) [226], and its many variants and derivatives, performs AC
and DC analysis, noise analysis, transient analysis and transfer function
10 1 CoSMoS: rationale and concepts

(input-output) analysis. Integrated circuit manufacturers make use of such

electronic circuit simulators to validate designs prior to manufacture – in
some cases with sufficient confidence that costly fabrication runs for proto-
typing and test are unnecessary.
An important class of immersive VR is the CAVE (Cave Automatic Vir-
tual Environment); typically a room with video projected images onto walls,
floor and ceiling, and a motion capture system to track the user’s move-
ments so that the CAVE display can respond to those movements. CAVE
systems are used in a wide range of applications, including product devel-
opment (to, for instance, virtually test a user interface) or process engineer-
ing (to virtually prototype a factory layout).

1.4.4 Engineering Operations

Where engineering plant and machinery is remote, or the consequences of

an incorrect control command are potentially catastrophic, then simulation
can provide a tool for testing and validating control actions before those ac-
tions are committed by the real system. An example of such remote systems
are the Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity; before commands
are sent to the vehicles on Mars, they are tested and validated using com-
puter simulation tools and scenario simulation on duplicate vehicles in a
terrestrial “Mars yard” environment [129].
An example of a simulation that is very closely coupled with the real
plant and machinery is the robot arm within the Joint European Torus (JET)
facility at Culham, Oxfordshire. A multi-axis manipulator within the torus
allows engineers to conduct maintenance or repair, by remotely controlling
the robot arm and its tools. Several cameras within the torus, including cam-
eras fitted to the robot arm, provide views to the operators but these, not sur-
prisingly, provide only limited viewpoints. Relying on these cameras alone
creates a significant risk that, in manoeuvring the robot’s end-effector, some
other part of the robot arm (an elbow for instance) collides with the critical
inner skin of the torus. The solution is a 3D simulation of the robot arm, to-
gether with the structures of the torus, that is coupled to and run in parallel
with the real system. In the control room the simulator visualisation is dis-
played alongside the camera views from the real system. Each time a new
movement of the robot arm is planned, the simulated robot arm is reset to
exactly match the disposition of the real robot arm; the next planned action
is then run on the simulator. Importantly the simulator provides views to
the operators from any desired viewpoint –even from outside a (transpar-
1.5 Working together 11

ent) simulated torus. Only when the operators are satisfied that the action
poses no risk is it carried out for real [200].

1.5 Working together

Understanding and control of complex systems is a significant motivation

for collaborative research. Complex systems require research across conven-
tional domains, and the lack of knowledge about how a particular domain
is involved in and with the wider context is a common limiting factor.
The point of collaboration is not to become an expert in someone else’s
domain, but to understand how to add one’s own expertise to an attempt
to address a problem expressed in a shared context. Expertise could be seen
as the right to pontificate about a particular domain, but it also entails an
obligation to conduct domain research to a high standard.
Collaboration is usually serendipitous: people or groups from different
domains build on chance encounters to take forward research that the in-
dividual or group could not pursue alone. However, with the increasing
emphasis on collaborative and interdisciplinary research, the possibility of
constructing collaborations is increasing. What would an ideal collaboration
look like? The following are some pointers:
• skilled scientists and engineers from more than one domain
• mutual commitment to a shared goal
• mutual trust in the expertise (as identified above) of other parties
• individual participant commitment to excellence in their domain of ex-
pertise
• a problem that cannot be addressed within one domain
We are concerned with creating simulations that are fit for purpose in sci-
entific and engineering research domains. In this context, there are neces-
sarily research domain experts, and software engineering domain experts.
Arguably, an attempt at complex systems simulation without expertise
in both domains cannot be shown to be fit-for-purpose. The engineering of
software is not simply a matter of building a program with a visual interface,
any more than understanding the research domain to be simulated is simply
a matter of access to an undergraduate textbook or a few scientific papers.
In systems analysis, the concept of a role provides a useful generalisation:
a role conveys rights and obligations; a role is played by one or more people,
and one or more roles can be played by a person. A role-based considera-
tion of collaboration helps to identify the actual areas of expertise required.
Figure 1.1 summarises roles in the context of research simulation.
12 1 CoSMoS: rationale and concepts

Role Description Contributes

Domain one or more scientists who com-
Scientist mission the simulation with the
intention of using outputs from
the simulation in their domain
research
scientific purpose and scope; in-
dication of impact and criticality;
information about the domain;
advice on and interpretation of
scientific sources; factual input
and data; advice on calibration
experiments and sensitivity ana-
lysis

Domain one or more software engineers a model using concepts and

Modeller who collaborate with the domain
scientist to create a conceptual
model of the domain to be sim-
ulated
notations that the domain sci-
entist can recognise and under-
stand, but which also admits a
systematic route to implementa-
tion

Simulation one or more software engineers software design and implement-

Engineer who collaborate with the domain
modeller to engineer a simula-
tion derived from the domain
model; and collaborate with the
domain scientist to test and cal-
ibrate the implemented simu-
lator, and run simulation exper-
iments
ation in which appropriate do-
main concepts are traceable, and
which includes facilities to set
up and run simulation experi-
ments, with appropriate obser-
vation and data collection

Argument one or more modellers respons- a fitness-for-purpose case that

Modeller ible for collating the basis on
which the other roles can reach
consensus on the fitness for pur-
pose of the simulator
exposes the rationale for trust by
all roles in the simulator, the as-
sumptions made, the limitations
in the purpose and scope of the
simulator and in the potential
use of its results

Fig. 1.1 Example roles in development and use of a collaborative research simulation

Not everyone can work collaboratively. The people playing each role
need flexibility, and commitment to the simulation project. Everyone needs
to accept the challenge of explaining their area of expertise in non-specialist
terms: all parties need to understand that they can challenge the other ex-
perts involved, ask questions, seek clarification and explanation. Because it
is a complex systems project, it is also necessary that all participants un-
derstand that “we do not know” or “we cannot possibly know” are valid
answers to many questions about the domain (e.g. what size is particle x;
how many of y are produced), the domain modelling (e.g. is a spatial model
1.6 Pattern language 13

compatible with the scientific data; how can we tell if we got it right) and
the implementation (e.g. what is the effect of digitisation; how random is
random; is behaviour x realistic, a feature, or a bug).
The human aim of collaboration is to arrive at a consensus on the fitness
for the scientific purpose of the simulator. The participants must not take for
granted other people’s opinions, but should work constructively together to
understand assumptions and limitations.
The people involved in each role need to see the simulator as a tool: a sci-
entific instrument that is only as good as what goes in to its construction. The
use of the simulator and simulation results depends on this understanding.

1.6 Pattern language

1.6.1 Historical context

We document the CoSMoS approach using a Pattern Language.

In 1977, Christopher Alexander and his co-authors published A Pattern
Language [7], one in a series of books “intended to provide a complete work-
ing alternative to our present ideas about architecture, building, and plan-
ning”. It is a handbook of 253 patterns, where “Each pattern describes a
problem which occurs over and over again in our environment, and then
describes the core of the solution to that problem, in such a way that you
can use this solution a million times over, without ever doing it the same
way twice.” [7, p.x]. The patterns describe how quality buildings should be
designed, and together provide a language covering a wide range of spa-
tial scales, from whole towns, through small clusters of buildings, and indi-
vidual buildings, to tiny detailing.
And that, as far as the computing community goes, would have been that,
were it not that the concept of Patterns inspired a group of software engin-
eers. Buildings are not the only things described by “architecture”: software
engineering uses the same word to describe its own structuring concepts.
In 1995, the so-called “Gang of Four” published Design Patterns [84], which
took Alexander’s concept and used it to produce a catalogue of patterns
found in good software architectures. Things have not looked back: there
are now analysis patterns [74], coding patterns [26], HCI patterns [225], pat-
terns conferences and catalogues [56, 112, 156, 223], antipatterns [39, 143],
metapatterns (patterns that describe patterns), and more (including argu-
ments that the whole software patterns community has completely missed
Alexander’s point [81]).
14 1 CoSMoS: rationale and concepts

The flurry of publications may have slowed somewhat since those early
days [224], but Patterns are now part of the everyday culture of software en-
gineering. One impact of Alexander’s ideas, as adapted by the Gang of Four,
on software development has been to make it clear that there is much more
to object-oriented architecture than just the single concept of an object. The
patterns provide a simple vocabulary, letting us all talk of the Visitor Pat-
tern, or the Factory Pattern [84], without having to explain what we mean.
A pattern language provides a collection of associated patterns that can be
used together to achieve a purpose. The CoSMoS pattern language provides
a collection of patterns for designing, building, using, and arguing fit-for-
purpose, simulations as scientific instruments.

1.6.2 CoSMoS pattern structure

It is important that a pattern is a practical, tried-and-tested solution to a

problem, not merely something the pattern writer hopes or theorises might
be a good solution2 . The CoSMoS pattern language has been used on several
simulation developments, and we provide references where appropriate.
We use the following template to document a pattern:

Pattern Template

Intent
What the pattern is for; what its use will achieve.

Summary
The tasks (some stated as patterns) needed to achieve the pattern’s in-
tent.

Context
The place or circumstance where the pattern is applicable.

Discussion
A general discussion of what the pattern provides, why it is needed,
and how to use it, including examples of its use where appropriate.
1.6 Pattern language 15

Related patterns
A discussion of related patterns, and of antipatterns to beware of when
applying this pattern.

We refer to a pattern in the text by its name in sans serif face and the page
number where it is documented – Pattern Template (14).
A full pattern language is more than just a vocabulary. Patterns can join
together to form larger patterns; the use of one pattern leads to the use of an-
other; antipattern solutions suggest alternative approaches. Many CoSMoS
patterns are expressed as a composition of smaller, more detailed patterns.
This suggests a structure to the final CoSMoS project artefacts, but should
not necessarily be taken as a suggestion on the order of pattern use. The
development process should be flexible and iterative, and tailored to the
specifics of a given project.

1.6.3 CoSMoS anti-pattern structure

Patterns provide guidance on what to do. It is just as important to give guid-

ance on what not to do, particularly when this superficially appears to be a
good idea, a clever shortcut, a sensible compromise, or even just normal
practice. Antipatterns [39, 143] provide a means to give such guidance. An
antipattern documents a pattern of bad behaviour or an often repeated mis-
take, together with a solution of what to do instead, or how to recover from
the mistake. The solution is often a pointer to which pattern(s) to use in-
stead.
We use the following template to document an antipattern:

Antipattern Template

Problem
What the problem is.

Context
The place or circumstance where the mistake is often made.

Discussion
Further discussion of the problem.
16 1 CoSMoS: rationale and concepts

Solution
A pithy summary of what to do instead, or how to recover from the
mistake.

We refer to an antipattern in the text by its (usually pejorative) name in italic

sans serif face and the page number where it is documented – Antipattern
Template (15).
In addition to antipatterns of the form “doing the wrong thing”, antip-
atterns can often appear in pairs (for example, Analysis Paralysis (138) and
Premature Implementation (170)) where one of the antipatterns is “doing too
much” and its pair is “doing too little”.

1.7 The CoSMoS concepts

CoSMoS assumes the use of good software engineering practices, but this
book is not about specific software engineering techniques. Instead, CoS-
MoS provides a pattern language (§1.6) that enables the construction and
exploration of simulations for the purpose of scientific research: it defines
where good modelling and software engineering techniques should be used.
This patterns-based approach has been designed to be adaptable both to a
variety of simulation problems and to changing circumstances during sim-
ulation construction and use. Application of appropriate patterns should be
tailored to suit the criticality and intended impact of the research outcomes.
The construction and use of simulations is a necessarily interdisciplin-
ary endeavour between scientists who study a particular Domain (123) (tak-
ing the role of Domain Scientist (101)), and software engineers who construct
simulations to facilitate the study of that domain (taking the roles of Domain
Modeller (103) and Simulation Engineer (105)). The Domain Scientists, Domain
Modellers, and Simulation Engineers are involved together in open-ended sci-
entific research: the simulations are used as a tool to support theory explor-
ation, hypothesis generation, and design of real world experimentation.
To run computer simulations we need to engineer a Simulation Platform
(161). A properly calibrated Simulation Platform is the scientific instrument, the
basis for running a Simulation Experiment (177). To engineer such a platform
requires us to explicitly represent some knowledge of the system being stud-
ied in a form of source code that can be run on a computer. This source code
is either designed manually by the developers or automatically generated
from a higher-level description.
1.7 The CoSMoS concepts 17

In many existing approaches to simulation, the source code is the only

explicit description of the aspects of the target domain that are being sim-
ulated. Source code contains numerous implicit assumptions3 concerning
both the scientific aspects of the work, and the engineering design of the
simulation platform. Source code also contains many implementation de-
tails, which are needed to make the simulation run on a computer, but are
not part of the underlying scientific model. Hence source code is not a satis-
factory model of the target domain.
To mitigate inappropriate assumptions in the design of a Simulation Plat-
form and to have greater confidence that simulation results can actually tell
us something that relates to the real system being studied, CoSMoS proposes
a series of related models to drive and describe the development of the Sim-
ulation Platform and simulation results generated from its use. Systematic
development assists interaction between Domain Scientists and software en-
gineers, and improves confidence in, and interpretation of, the results of
simulations.

1.7.1 Phases

We identify three main phases in a simulation project.

Discovery Phase (95) Deciding what scientific instrument to build: establishing
the scientific basis of the project, including the scientific purpose ad-
dressed by the simulations; identifying the domain of interest, models
the domain; shedding light on scientific questions.
Development Phase (96) Building the instrument: producing a simulation plat-
form to perform repeated simulation, based on the output of Discovery.
Exploration Phase (97) Using the instrument to run experiments: using the
simulation platform resulting from Development for exploring the sci-
entific questions established during Discovery.
These phases are not intended to be performed purely sequentially. A
project naturally begins with discovery, followed by development and then
exploration. But many iterations of discovery, development and exploration
may be required to build a robust, fit for purpose instrument. The separation
into phases helps provide a focus on what particular pieces of information
are needed at each phase for each model.
Indeed, some projects might not perform all phases. A prior project may
have performed the necessary discovery, and only development and explor-
ation is needed (although it will be necessary to check that the assumptions
of the prior discovery phase are valid for this project). Similarly, a suitable
existing simulation platform might exist, and only the exploration phase is
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to rejoice in Thérèse.”
Lady Frances sighed, and began to ponder whether, even if she
could learn to live without Philips, she could make to herself a maid
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Not only from her husband did Letitia learn how welcome she was
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means of enjoyment in abundance; but not of a kind to be
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before dinner; and at another time, when all the gentlemen were
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They were nearly as eloquent in describing the effect of lord F
——’s speech, as, by their account, had been the speech itself.—
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government candidate ought to feel themselves much obliged to him;
another, that lord F——’s constituents would be more proud of him
than ever; another, an M.P., a representative of the commercial
interest, that lord F—— had enlightened the people not a little on the
question when low profits were harmless, and when bad things, and
why; and all, with the earl among them, that this day might prove the
beginning of a new era in lord F——’s public life. He would now have
as potent a voice out of the house as his friends had ever hoped he
would in time have in it.
“How happens all this, Henry?” asked Letitia, aside, with a glowing
smile. “You gave me no expectation of anything like this.”
“Because I had none myself. The charm lay in the burden which I
adopted from our neighbours down in the village;—‘for each and for
all.’”
“I see; I understand. Now leave the rest till you can give it me all in
order.”
It was accordingly given, all in order, when the last carriage had
driven off, the next morning, and Henry and Letitia shut themselves
into the library, to enjoy the uninterruptedness of the first fall of snow.
This was no day for the approach of deputations, for the visits of
clergyman, lawyer, lady callers, gentleman loungers, or even
petitioners from the village. The guests had been urged to stay for
finer weather; but, as peremptory in their plans as people of real
business, provided change of place is the object, they could on no
account delay an hour; and, to be sure, the snow signified little to
any but the postilions and the horses.
“Well, now, the speech, the speech!” cried Letitia.
 “I told the people that nobody doubts that changes are wanted, in
order to remedy the evils so large a portion of society is justly
complaining of; and that the thing needed is a wider agreement as to
what those changes must be, and therefore a sounder and more
general knowledge of the causes of existing evils. I led them, as an
instance, into the consideration of the common complaint of low
profits and low wages, and showed them, I hope, that proportional
wages are much higher at present than some complainers suppose;
the fact being lost sight of from the enormous increase of those
among whom the wages-fund is divided. However little each labourer
may, from this cause, obtain for his own share, the division of
produce between capitalist and labourer,—that is, the proportion of
profits and wages, is more equable than is supposed by capitalists
who complain of their low profits, and labourers of their low wages.
Neither of them will gain by demanding a larger share of the other,
which neither can afford. They must look elsewhere for a remedy;
and I directed them where to look by giving them the example of
Holland and its commercial vicissitudes.”
“Rich to overflowing in the fifteenth century; since, well nigh
ruined. How was this? From too much capital leaving the country?”
“From the causes which led to such transfer of capital. While
Holland was accumulating its wealth, profits were first high, and then
gradually lowered in proportion to wages, though still increasing in
total amount. It was not till heavy taxation reduced the rate of profits
below that of other countries....”
“But does not taxation affect wages too?”
“Assuredly; but the labourer uses fewer commodities than the
capitalist, and therefore there is a limit to the labourer’s taxation,
beyond which taxes must fall on profits, and reduce them as
effectually as a deterioration of the land could do. Well; this being the
case in Holland, more than in the neighbouring countries, Dutch
capital flowed into those countries; and the Dutch have engaged
largely in the carrying trade, in foreign funds, and in loans to the
merchants of other countries, because all this capital could be less
advantageously employed at home. No country need or ought to
come to such a pass as this; for, where there is an economical
government, taxation may be a trifle compared with what it was in
Holland after the wars of the Republic; and where there is a liberal
commercial system,—that is, no unnecessary check upon the supply
of food, accumulation may proceed to an undefinable extent without
an injurious fall of wages and profits. Thus may the cultivation of
poor soils be rendered needless, the consequent rise of rent be
checked, and the fall of profits and wages obviated.”
“What we want then is, a regulation of the supply of the labour-
market, a lightening of taxation, and a liberal commercial system.
But, Henry, where is the eloquence of all this?—that which is
commonly called eloquence? It seems to me more like a lecture than
a speech.”
“And so it was; but these are days when, to the people, naked
truth is the best eloquence. They are sufferers; they look for a way
out of their sufferings; and the plainest way is to them the fairest.
However, I said to them much that there is no need to say to you,—
because you know it already,—of my views of what the spirit of
society ought to be, in contrast with what it is. I enlarged,—whether
eloquently I know not,—but I am sure fervently,—as fervently as ever
any advocate of co-operation spoke,—on the rule ‘for each and for
all;’ showing that there is actual co-operation wherever individual
interests are righteously pursued, since the general interest is made
up of individual interests. I showed that justice requires the individual
appropriation of the fruits of individual effort; that is, the maintenance
of the institution of property; and that producers do as much for all,
as well as for each, by carrying their produce to market themselves,
as by casting it into a common stock.”
“For instance, that A. does as great a public service by bringing a
hundred hats to exchange for tables and stockings, and whatever
else he may happen to want, as B. by letting the exchange be
conducted as an affair of partnership.”
“Yes. Let people have partnerships as large as they like, and make
savings thereby, if they find they can. But let them beware of the
notion that any competition but the struggle for food is the cause of
hardship; and that struggle must take place under both systems,
unless the same means are used by both to prevent it. As for the
question of time, the struggle will take place soonest under that
system which affords the least stimulus to productive industry. “And,
now, love, you have the pith of my speech, except of those best
parts which you have many a time rehearsed to me, and I to you. Of
the ‘hear, hears,’ and clappings, you learned enough last night.”
“I wish I could have been there,” sighed the wife.
“So do I. Well as you know the aspect of an attentive crowd, you
can have little idea of the stimulating excitement of political meetings
just now.”
“I can imagine it. The true romance of human life lies among the
poorer classes; the most rapid vicissitudes, the strongest passions,
the most undiluted emotions, the most eloquent deportment, the
truest experience are there. These things are marked on their
countenances, and displayed by their gestures; and yet these things
are almost untouched by our artists; be they dramatists, painters, or
novelists. The richest know best what is meant by the monotony of
existence, however little this may appear to their poor neighbours
who see them driving about as if life depended on their speed, and
traversing kingdoms and continents. Yet from the upper and middling
classes are the fine arts mainly furnished with their subjects. This is
wrong; for life in its reality cannot become known by hearsay; and by
hearsay only is there any notion of it among those who feel
themselves set above its struggles and its toils: that is, by the greater
part of the aristocracy.”
“Thank heaven! not by you or me,” replied her husband. “An
uninformed observer might think that there is monotony before us at
present, sitting as we are, watching the snow-flakes fall with the few
leaves which had lingered aloft till now,—with weeks of retirement in
prospect, and nothing apparent to wish or work for. Yet you have had
enough, love, of struggle and toil to know what real life is; and I
have, of late, begun to learn the same lesson. No fear of monotony
for us!”
“No fear; since there are all to live for as well as each, and each
other. But, Henry, how is it that there is so little made known where it
most wants to be known, of what real life is when trained by that best
of educations, vicissitude?”
“Because our painters of life do not take into the account,—in fact
know little of,—some of the most important circumstances which
constitute life, in the best sense of the word. They lay hold of the
great circumstances which happen to all, the landmarks of universal
human existence, and overlook those which are not less interesting,
though not universal. They take Love; and think it more becoming to
describe a Letitia going to the altar with a lord F——, than a weaver
and his thoughtful bride taking possession of their two rooms, after
long waiting and anxiety. They take Bereavement; and think it the
same thing whether they describe the manly grief of an Ormond for
his gallant Ossory, or the silent woe of a poverty-stricken widow for
her laborious and dutiful son. They take Birth; and would rather have
a lady F—— bending over the infant heir of a lordly house, with a
Thérèse in waiting ... (My dear, why not describe that which shall be
as well as that which has been?)—a lady F—— and her infant, I say,
than some rustic Mary holding up her boy to smile in father’s face
when he comes home from the plough. There is no harm in all this,
provided the mighty remainder is not overlooked, which is at the
bottom of the most portentous heavings of society,—which explains
all that is to many unaccountable in the doings of the world they live
in. If the aristocracy cannot, by their own experience, get to know all
that life is,—though they are born, love, marry, suffer, enjoy, and die,
let some idea be given them of it by true images held up in the mirror
of their studies.”
“Yes; let humble life be shown to them in all its strong and strange
varieties; not only in faithful butlers and housekeepers,—in pretty
dairy-maids and gossiping barbers. Let us have in books, in pictures,
and on the stage, working men and women, in the various periods of
their struggles through life. In the meanwhile, these people should in
fairness know that the aristocracy are less aware than is supposed,
—less than they will be,—of what is being done and suffered on
each side of their smooth and dull path.”
“Let the artists be compassionately considered too, I pray,” said
lord F——, smiling. “Granting all that can be urged about their
limiting their choice of objects, let us be considerate till they have
placed themselves at large. What, for instance, could a weaver of
fiction make of our present life?”
“Nothing of a story; only a picture; there being, as you said just
now, apparent monotony without, and deep stirrings within. Such a
writer, if wishing to make a narrative, must take either my former life,
—its perplexities, its poverty, its struggles under its first publicity, its
labours, its love, and migration into a new state;—or your future one,
—the statesman’s honourable toils, joined with the patriot’s conflicts
and consolations.”
“But if there was good reason for taking up precisely the interval,—
from our marriage till this hour;—what then?”
“Then writer and readers must be contented with little narrative;
contented to know what passes within us, since so little happens to
us. Would there be nothing to instruct and gratify in pictures of our
position, in revelations of our hearts, and records of our
conversations?”
“Let us comfort ourselves, Letitia, with deciding that it must be the
fault of the recorder if there were not.”
 Summary of Principles illustrated in this volume.

The produce of labour and capital, after rent has been paid, is
divided between the labourer and the capitalist, under the names of
Wages and Profits.
Where there are two shares, each determines the other, provided
they press equally upon one another.
The increase of the supply of labour, claiming reward, makes the
pressure in the present case unequal, and renders wages the
regulator of profits.
The restriction of the supply of food causes the fall of both profits
and wages.
The increased expense of raising food enhances its price: labour,
both agricultural and manufacturing, becomes dearer, (without
advantage to the labourer:) this rise of wages causes profits to fall;
and this fall brings after it a reduction of the labourer’s share, or a fall
of wages.
The fall of profits and wages is thus referrible to the same cause
which raises rent;—to an inequality in the fertility of soils.

It is supposed by some that these tendencies to the fall of wages

and profits may be counteracted by abolishing the distinctions of
shares, and casting the whole produce of land, capital, and labour,
into a common stock. But this is a fallacy.
For, whatever may be the saving effected by an extensive
partnership, such partnership does not affect the natural laws by
which population increases faster than capital. The diminution of the
returns to capital must occasion poverty to a multiplying society,
whether those returns are appropriated by individuals under the
competitive system, or equally distributed among the members of a
co-operative community.
The same checks to the deterioration of the resources of society
are necessary under each system.
These are, (in addition to the agricultural improvements continually
taking place,)—
1. The due limitation of the number of consumers.
 2. The lightening of the public burdens, which at present abstract a
large proportion of profits and wages.
3. A liberal commercial system which shall obviate the necessity of
bringing poor soils into cultivation.
London: Printed by W. Clowes, Stamford-street.
 FRENCH WINES
AND
POLITICS.

A Tale.

BY

HARRIET MARTINEAU.

LONDON:
CHARLES FOX, 67, PATERNOSTER-ROW.

1833.
 CONTENTS.

FRENCH WINES AND POLITICS.

1. Vine Growing 1
2. Signs of the Time 9
3. The Temper of the Time 29
4. Deeds of the Time 50
5. The Philosophy of Bargaining 72
6. New Devices 82
7. Mob Sovereignty 99
8. Upshot of Feudalism 122
9. Adjustment 134
 FRENCH WINES AND POLITICS.

Chapter I.
VINE-GROWING.

It was on a glorious afternoon in July, 1788, that an Englishman,

named Steele, landed on the banks of the Garonne, a few miles
south of Bordeaux, whence he had come up in a boat on an
excursion of part business, part pleasure. Steele was settled as a
factor at Bordeaux, and his business was to purchase wines from the
growers, and ship them to his employers in England. His occupation
had brought him acquainted with almost every vine-grower within
fifty leagues of Bordeaux; and in the case of one of these, Antoine
Luyon, the acquaintance had ripened into a friendship. Antoine was
part owner of some vineyards on the western bank of the Garonne,
one of which produced claret of a singularly fine quality,—too good to
command an advantageous sale at Paris, where second and third-
rate wines are in nearly equal esteem with the first. The produce of
this small and rich vineyard was therefore set apart for English sale,
and had been bargained for by the house which Steele represented,
and the terms agreed upon for the vintage of the five next seasons.
Other vineyards belonging to the same parties touched upon this
peculiarly favoured one; but not all the care and pains that could be
taken availed to make their produce better than second or third-rate.
Their aspect was a little more to the east and less to the south; they
were not so perfectly sheltered behind; and no art could temper their
soil to the exact point of perfection enjoyed by La Haute Favorite, as
this distinguished vineyard was called. Their produce was, however,
as valuable as that of most of the estates around, and was in good
esteem at Paris, where Antoine’s partner, his brother Charles, was
settled as a wine-merchant; and where he bestowed as much pains
on the maturing of the stock in his cellars as Antoine did on its first
ripening in the form of grapes, or their friend Steele on the processes
of fining, racking, and mixing, which were carried on at his
employers’ depôt at Bordeaux. Much care and skill were required in
all these departments of business; and the young men were
exemplary in both, pursuing their occupation as a matter of taste as
well as of necessity. Steele watched the thermometer in his cellars
as carefully as Antoine observed winds and clouds; and their
common interest in the welfare of Favorite quickened their
friendship, in one way among many, by occasioning more frequent
meetings than they would otherwise have thought practicable. Many
a trip to Bordeaux did Antoine contrive to ascertain the effects of
heat or cold on the wines in their third or fourth season; or to give the
alarm if he heard rumours of buildings being pulled down or erected
so near the premises as to have any influence over the temperature
within: and during the summer, Steele was wont to go up the river on
Saturdays, and spend the Sunday with his friend Antoine for the
avowed purpose of paying his devoirs to La Favorite.—There was
much to tempt him to these excursions, if wine had made no part of
his interest, for a fairer territory than that through which the Garonne
held its course was seldom seen. There were harvests of a more
picturesque growth than even those which embellished the
vineyards. Interspersed with the meadows which sloped down to the
river, were groves of olives and forests of chestnuts, and in due
season, the almond trees put forth their pink blossoms amidst the
dark shadows of the evergreen woods. Boats heavily laden with the
merchandise of the Levant, brought hither by means of the grand
Languedoc canal, passed down the blue and brimming river, or
returned, borne rapidly on the tide, and empty of all but the boatmen
in their red jackets, whose snatches of song reached the shore on
the fragrant breeze. The cottages of the peasantry were indeed few,
and comfortless in appearance; but the chateaux of the gentry arose
here and there, not half buried in woods, like English mansions, but
conspicuous on terraces, and rendered in some degree imposing by
the appliances of art, which did not, however, in the eye of the
Englishman, compensate for the natural attractions which a fine
taste would have gathered round them. Even stone balustrades and
fountains, and artificial terraces, however, as long as they were
intermixed with corn-fields and olive groves, had charms for one
whose residence was commonly in the city; and in process of time,
he began to contemplate the chateau of the marquis de Thou, which
commanded the vicinity of Antoine’s residence, with something of
the admiration, though with nothing of the awe, with which it was
regarded by the peasantry round.
Whether this admiration was increased or lessened by the
glimpses he occasionally obtained of its inhabitants, he could himself
have hardly determined. The first time he saw the marquis he was
moved to laughter; but then the marquis was alone (except the
laquais in his rear) sitting bolt upright on his horse, with his
enormous queue reaching down to the little skirts of his coat, and his
large light blue eyes and pursed-up mouth giving a ludicrous mixture
of vacancy and solemnity to his countenance. But when the marquis
de Thou was seen parading the terrace with his beautiful daughter,
the lady Alice, by his side, or following the sports of the field with a
train of the noblesse, assembled in all the grandeur of feudal array,
he who looked insignificant in his individuality gathered some
advantage from the grace or splendour around him. He was
regarded as the father and protector of the fair creature who seemed
to tread on air within the vast circumference of her hoop, and whose
eyes shone forth from beneath her enormous head-dress like glow-
worms in a thicket; and again, the marquis was the host of the
wealthy and the gay who held sway in the land which was for ever
boasting its own likeness to Paradise: so that, in time, the marquis
became mixed up with his connexions even in the mind of the
Englishman; and instead of laughing, Steele learned to uncover and
bow low at the approach of the great man, in the same manner as
Antoine. If he had known as much as the natives of the territory of
certain deeds which were done, and certain customs which were
prevalent there, his English heart might have forbidden his raising
his hand to his head in token of respect; but though he disliked the
French peasantry, he was not fully aware how many of their bad
qualities were directly attributable to the influence of the order of
which the marquis de Thou was one of the representatives.
On the present occasion, Antoine awaited on the bank the landing
of his friend.
“Ah ha!” cried the Frenchman, as soon as he could make himself
heard; “you look up into our blue sky with the same admiration as
when you first saw it, four seasons ago. Well; even Bordeaux has its
smoke, and now and then a sea haze.”
“So thick an one this morning,” replied Steele, “that I could have
fancied myself in an English port.”
“Do the captains foretell a change of wind?” inquired Antoine. “I
rather apprehend one; and it is a pity that Favorite should risk losing
a particle of her beauty. Come and see her,—as bright as a May
morning; as rich and mellow as an autumn noon. It would grieve my
soul if an unkind wind should hurt her; but there are signs of a
change.”
The young men turned their steps towards the vineyards, instead
of to Antoine’s dwelling, as Steele needed no refreshment but that of
seeing how his dearly-beloved vines flourished, and enjoying the
beautiful walk which led to the enclosures. On this occasion, he
looked about him more than usual as he passed, as the peasantry
were abroad, and evidently in a state of excitement and uneasiness.
One and another stopped the young men to ask if they knew what
direction the hunt had taken, and whether it could be conjectured
how long a chase the boar might cause the gentry. Steele now
learned for the first time, how eminently a boar hunt was an occasion
of terror and hardship to the country people. He saw them mount the
highest trees to look out, and lay their ears to the ground to detect
the distant tread of horses. He heard them mutter prayers that their
fences might remain unbroken, and their crops untrodden.
“I should not have thought your peasants could be so anxious
about their little harvests,” he observed to Antoine. “Judging from the
state of their plots of land, I should suppose them careless about
their tillage. How weedy this field is! And the hay in that meadow
was, as I remember, not cut for weeks after the proper time.”
“It is no fault of theirs,” replied Antoine. “The law forbids hoeing
and weeding, lest the young partridges should be hurt; and the hay
must not be cut before a certain day, let the season be what it will,
lest the game should be deprived of shelter. Many crops are thus
spoiled.”
“What tyranny!” exclaimed the Englishman. “But some fault seems
still to remain with the cultivators. They do not use half the manure at
their disposal, while their land evidently wants it much. Yonder field is
an instance.”
“Certain sorts of manure are thought to give an unpleasant flavour
to the birds which subsist on the grain which springs from them,”
replied Antoine. “Such manure is not allowed to be used.”
On Steele’s exclaiming again that such prohibitions were too
arbitrary to be endured, Antoine laughed, and wondered what he
would say to certain other regulations, in comparison with which
these were trifles. What did he think of the lot of those who were sent
to the galleys for having entered or approached the groves where
the wild pigeons of the marquis were appointed to breed
undisturbed; or of such as were ruined by being taken from their
tillage to make for him ornamental roads which led nowhere; or by
the fines which they had to pay in commutation of the service of
keeping the frogs quiet by night? On one side the chateau, a marsh
extended for some distance, and its frogs greatly annoyed a former
marquis by their croaking. His peasantry were employed to beat the
ponds. By degrees, as the nuisance decreased, this service was
commuted for a fine,—and a very oppressive one it was found at this
day. Antoine was proceeding to describe another grievance of great
magnitude, when his description was superseded by an example.
The young men were now in a chestnut grove, within which the
distant sounds of the hunt were beginning to be heard. A figure of a
peasant crossed the glades at intervals, and an occasional voice
hailed them from overhead, where lookers out were perched on the
loftiest trees to watch what course the devastation of the boar and its
hunters would take. After a few moments of quiet, a cry burst forth,
and was echoed from mouth to mouth through the wood, a heavy
plunging tread was heard, and a rushing and crashing in the thicket,
which warned Steele to fly to the protection of the largest trunk at
hand, while Antoine climbed a tree as nimbly as a squirrel. The
ferocious, clumsy animal immediately appeared, its small eyes red
and flaming, its coarse hide bristling, and its terrific tusks looking as
if they could plough up the very ground over which it rushed
headlong. The moment the danger was past, Antoine descended,
and followed at full speed to see the issue of the chase; Steele
keeping up with his companion as well as he could, but not without
some qualms lest the beast should be met at the extremity of the
wood, and driven back upon his steps. The hunt was a little too late,
however, to accomplish this manœuvre, and Steele began to feel
himself somewhat more comfortable, when a cry of horror from
Antoine, who was a little way in advance, renewed all his fears.
“O, Favorite! O La Haute Favorite!” cried he. “She is spoiled,—she
will be wholly desolated by the monster and the hunters!” And poor
Antoine threw himself down at the foot of a tree, and would look no
more. His companion saw one horseman after another leap the
fence which had been kept in such perfect repair, watched them
wheeling round and round among the choice vines, which they must
be treading like so much common grass, and finally follow the boar
out at the opposite side, while the servants who attended in the rear
wantonly rode over the same ground, when they might just as easily
have kept the road. In a great passion, Steele flew to warn, and
threaten, and scold; but before he had time to commit himself,
Antoine was at hand to interpose, and silence the indignant
Englishman.
 “I cannot conceive what you mean, Antoine,” cried Steele, the
moment they had the place to themselves. “You flung yourself upon
the ground in as great an agony as if your bride had been snatched
from you; and presently you come to speak these rascals as fair as if
they had done you a favour!”
“It is the only way to keep what we have left,” replied Antoine,
mournfully. “There is no use, but much peril, in complaint. Redress
there is none; and ill-will towards the lord’s pleasure is resented
more deeply and lastingly than injury to his property. You may rob his
chateau of its plate, and be more easily forgiven than for repining at
anything which happens in the course of his sports.”
Steele was ready to burst with indignation against the people
which permitted such usages to endure. He was answered by a
reference to the cruel old forest laws of England, and certain national
blemishes of an analogous character which still remained; and the
friends were in danger of quarrelling, for the first time, when they
remembered that it would be more to the purpose to contemplate the
present than the past and the absent, and to help one another under
the vexatious event which had befallen them.
It was mournful to look around, and see what had been done
within a few minutes;—the clean soil trodden and strewed, the props
thrown down, the laden branches snapped off, the ripening fruit
crushed and scattered, and the whole laid open to intruders; whether
men to steal, or troops of deer to browze. If, by any exertion, these
intruders could be kept out, there was hope that some, even a
considerable portion, of the expected vintage might be saved, as
some rows of vines had not been touched, and others had fallen
merely from their supports being removed. Antoine set off in search
of labourers. Not one would follow him till the issue of the hunt was
known, and it became certain whose fields would be devastated
before the sun went down, and whose not; but when the boar’s head
was at length carried towards the chateau, with the usual honours,
and the proud train returned to their stately festivities, a gang of
peasants, safe for this bout, set to work, under Antoine and Steele,
to stop up the fences till they could be properly repaired; while their
less fortunate neighbours hid themselves to groan over the
destroyed harvests which were their only hope;—hid themselves,
because if their own little children had spoken of their grief, the
galleys would infallibly be their destination ere long. Neither those
who chaunted over their work, however, nor those who brooded over
wrongs within, nor the two young men who toiled, went home, and
retired to rest in gloomy silence, anticipated what would be their
relative position at the same hour the next evening. Nothing could
now appear more certain to Antoine than that he and his brother had
sustained a great loss in the destruction of half the crop of their best
vineyard, or to Steele than that it would be a misfortune to his
employers to be disappointed of half the quantity of that superlative
wine which they were to have on favourable terms, and might sell at
almost any price they might choose to set upon it: yet another turn of
fortune happened within a few hours which promised to do more
than repair the pecuniary damage, though it still remained to be
lamented that La Haute Favorite should have been exposed to
wanton devastation.
The next day was the day of the extraordinary hurricane which
spread affright through various regions of France, where there was
want and woe enough before to shake the courage and perplex the
judgment of rulers, and to appal the hearts of the ruled. The timid
had long been inquiring how the national burdens were to be borne
for the future, and the popular discontents much longer soothed.
When this dreadful tempest came, extinguishing the light of day like
an eclipse, changing the aspect of the scenery like an earthquake,
and convulsing the atmosphere like a hurricane, mere timidity
became deepened into a superstitious horror, and the powers of hell
were thought to be let loose against the devoted land. Few could
wonder much at this who knew the people in their state of ignorance
and hardship, and who witnessed the ravages of the storm.
The morning had risen fair and bright, though cold, from the
change of wind which Antoine had predicted. The clouds soon began
to gather, with an appearance of unusual blackness; but this did not
prevent the country people from setting out for church, and making
their way thither in defiance of the rising blasts. When assembled,
however, they found it perilous to remain under the shelter of a roof
which threatened to fall in upon them; and they rushed out into the
road, where, carefully avoiding the neighbourhood of trees, they
supported one another during the dreadful hour that the storm
lasted. Cries of grief and despair broke from them at every step as
they returned homewards. Drifts of hail stopped up their path. The
corn-fields were one vast morass. The almond groves were level
with the ground; and of the chestnut woods nothing remained but an
assemblage of bare poles. The more exposed vineyards were so
many quagmires, and many dwellings were mere heaps of ruins. All
who witnessed were horror-struck at the conviction of general,
immediate, pressing want; and the more thoughtful glanced forwards
in idea to the number of seasons that must pass away before all this
damage could be repaired. Not a few, in the midst of their own
distress, however, jested on the fate of the marquis’s partridges, and
consoled one another with the certainty that it would be long before
the lord’s game could trouble them again.
As for Antoine, he hurried past his ruined garden to La Favorite,
gloomily followed by the Englishman, who could not be comforted by
his companion’s suggestion, that, at the worst, the soil would be
finely manured by its produce being beaten into it. This was not
exactly the object for which Steele had anticipated the fine crop
would be used, and he could not, so rapidly as a Frenchman,
acquiesce in so complete a change of purposes. It would be difficult
to say which was the most astonished and the most joyful when they
found their beloved Favorite smiling amidst the general devastation,
and scarcely more injured than when they had left her the night
before. Sheltered by the hill behind, and by a wood on the side
whence the hurricane approached, she had escaped its worst fury;
and a few torn branches, a few scattered hailstones, were the only
witnesses of the storm which had passed over her.
“My beauty! My beloved!” exclaimed Antoine; “though man and
beast have dared to insult thee, the elements have known how to
respect thy beauty. They just paid thee a gentle homage as they
passed, and left thee serene and verdant, while all besides is
prostrated before them. My homage shall restore the few charms
that have been defaced.”
And, somewhat to Steele’s surprise, Antoine began the homage
he spoke of, reverentially lifting the trailing branches, coaxing the
battered bunches of grapes, and restoring props with a sort of joyful