我们已经见证了社交媒体、智能手机以及其他科技奇迹的诞生与进化，这些科技工具让我们能够以前所未见的规模和深度采集并处理有关人类行为的数据，从而为研究人类社会提供了一个全新的路径。这本书是一部里程碑式的作品，它将彻底改变下一代社会科学家和数据科学家探索世界的方式。
 大数据的10个共同特征是什么？
 如何通过数据预测美国总统大选的结果？
 如何在短时间内对100万个星系进行分类？
 大规模数据采集面临着怎样的道德伦理困境？
 科技公司是否在监视我们的行为，数字时代是不是将我们带进了“全景监狱”呢？
在计算社会学这一新兴领域，作者阐述了数字革命如何扭转了社会科学家和数据科学家观察行为、提出问题、开展实验和进行大规模协作的方式，详细描述了大批真实的案例，并且划定了面临伦理挑战时需要遵循的4项原则。
这本书用全新的数据模式解锁了社会学。对社会科学家来说，它是一本跨界指南之书；对数据科学家来说，它是一本素养提升之作。

This reader-friendly textbook is the first work of its kind to provide a unified Introduction to Computational Social Science (CSS). Four distinct methodological approaches are examined in detail, namely automated social information extraction, social network analysis, social complexity theory and social simulation modeling. The coverage of these approaches is supported by a discussion of the historical context, as well as by a list of texts for further reading. Features: highlights the main theories of the CSS paradigm as causal explanatory frameworks that shed new light on the nature of human and social dynamics; explains how to distinguish and analyze the different levels of analysis of social complexity using computational approaches; discusses a number of methodological tools; presents the main classes of entities, objects and relations common to the computational analysis of social complexity; examines the interdisciplinary integration of knowledge in the context of social phenomena.