Complexity: Life at the Edge of Chaos

Lewin, Roger

ISBN 10: 0025704850 / ISBN 13: 9780025704855

Published by Macmillan Pub Co (edition First Edition), 1992

With dust jacket. It's a well-cared-for item that has seen limited use. The item may show minor signs of wear. All the text is legible, with all pages included. It may have slight markings and/or highlighting. Seller Inventory # 0025704850-11-1-29

Synopsis:

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.

Synopsis: Complexity, in Roger Lewin's view, will be the dominant scientific trend of the 1990s, as scientists from many disciplines come together and begin to discover the underlying similarities in their fields. Briefly, complexity theory - which encompasses chaos - holds that at the root of all complex systems lies a few simple rules. It takes the notion of chaos (which states that within seemingly chaotic systems are elements of order) a step further by actually identifying these rules. For example - the rules which govern the behaviour of molecules will parallel those which guide human behaviour. The goal of complexity theory is "a grand unification of the life sciences".

The book focuses on the pioneers in the field of chaos theory, and their struggles to gain acceptance, beginning with Heinz Pagels (an early prophet of the movement), Edward Fredkin and John Wolfram (who worked with cellular automata at the University of Illinois' Centre for Complex Systems), Danny Hillis (a computer magician who introduced complexity to the marketplace), Manfred Eigen of the Max Planck Institute, biochemist Stuart Kaufman (who applied mathematical rules to the theory of natural selection), Harvard behavioural biologist Irven Devore and Brian Arthur (who linked physics and math to economics) and others. Roger Lewin has also written "Bones of Contention", "Origins", " People of the Lake", "Darwin's Forgotten World", "In the Age of Mankind" and "Origins Reconsidered".

Bibliographic Details

Title: Complexity: Life at the Edge of Chaos
Publisher: Macmillan Pub Co (edition First Edition)
Publication Date: 1992
Binding: Hardcover
Condition: Very Good
Dust Jacket Condition: Dust Jacket Included
Edition: First Edition.