Complexity: Life at the Edge of Chaos
Introduces the pioneers of complexity theory—from Heinz Pagels to Brian Arthur—examines the theory's components, and explains its value in the effort to achieve a unification of the life sciences. By the author of Bones of Contention.\ \ Complexity theory holds that at the root of all complex systems lie a few simple rules that will yield a grand unification of the life sciences. Lewin personalizes a dramatic story of scientific discovery that includes explorations by...
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"Put together one of the world's best science writers with one of the universe's most fascinating subjects and you are bound to produce a wonderful book. . . . The subject of complexity is vital and controversial. This book is important and beautifully done."—Stephen Jay Gould"[Complexity] is that curious mix of complication and organization that we find throughout the natural and human worlds: the workings of a cell, the structure of the brain, the behavior of the stock market, the shifts of political power. . . . It is time science . . . thinks about meaning as well as counting information. . . . This is the core of the complexity manifesto. Read it, think about it . . . but don't ignore it."—Ian Stewart, NatureThis second edition has been brought up to date with an essay entitled "On the Edge in the Business World" and an interview with John Holland, author of Emergence: From Chaos to Order. Nature - Ian Stewart [Complexity] is that curious mix of complication and organization that we find throughout the natural and human worlds: the workings of a cell, the structure of the brain, the behavior of the stock market, the shifts of political power....[I]t is time science....think about meaning as well as counting information....This is the core of the complexity manifesto. Read it, think about it....but don't ignore it.
Acknowledgments viiPreface ix The View from Chaco Canyon 1 Beyond Order and Magic 23 Edge of Chaos Discovered 44 Explosions and Extinctions 63 Life in a Computer 84 Stability and the Reality of Gaia 106 Complexity and the Reality of Progress 130 The Veil of Consciousness 150 The View of from the Edge 172 Afterword: On the Edge in the World of Business 197 Appendix: John Holland: Mr. Emergence 213 A Selected Bibliography 223 Index 227
\ Ian Stewart[Complexity] is that curious mix of complication and organization that we find throughout the natural and human worlds: the workings of a cell, the structure of the brain, the behavior of the stock market, the shifts of political power....[I]t is time science....think about meaning as well as counting information....This is the core of the complexity manifesto. Read it, think about it....but don't ignore it.\ — Nature\ \
