The Emergence of Complexity in Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, & Biology (Pontificiae Academiae Scientiarum Scripta Varia) - Softcover

Pullman, Bernard

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0691012385 ISBN 13: 9780691012384

Publisher: Princeton University Press, 1997

Synopsis

Complexity studies, thought still in their infancy, are controversial. By viewing different systems, be it those in biological, physical or even social sciences, as series of interacting "agents", researchers involved in complexity explore a rich and diverse set of phenomena such as self-organization and adaptation. They use these phenomena to model and explain such things as the formation of cities, the behaviour of the stock market and the origin of life. In this volume, some of the world's leading scientists discuss the role of complexity across all the scientific disciplines. Opinions differ: for some, complexity holds the key to a deeper and fuller understanding of the world; to others, it is merely a modern version of the philsophers' stone. For the reader, it provides glimpses and insight into arguably the most exciting approach to science currently available.

About this title

About the Author

Bernard Pullman, who died in 1996, was a major figure in theoretical biochemistry, and was the Director of the Institut de Biologie Chimie Physique in Paris.

Edition details

• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Publication date: 1997
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0691012385
• ISBN 13: 9780691012384
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 494