The Art of Modelling

When we speak about ‘the art of modelling’ 1, there is the idea at the backs of our minds that modelling is a creative process (cf. Sect. 2.4). As creativity is a talent and cannot be learned or taught, it seems to be difficult to treat it in a textbook. The artist learns by experimenting, creating works of art, rejecting them if they are not to his satisfaction or trying to improve them so that they come up to his expectations. We for our part use different methods of working; they are more technical than those of an artist, and thus we replace creative experimenting and practice by the description of some select experiments already carried out. These descriptions are precise case studies of models designed to serve various purposes in different fields of research; they are compiled in the appendix to this book.