Complexity A Very Short Introduction

Author : John Henry Holland
Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN 13 : 0199662541
Total Pages : 121 pages
Book Rating : 4.48/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Complexity written by John Henry Holland and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2014 with total page 121 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this very short introduction, John Holland presents an introduction to the science of complexity. Using examples from biology and economics, he shows how complexity science models the behaviour of complex systems.

Author : John Henry Holland
Publisher : Addison Wesley Publishing Company
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 216 pages
Book Rating : 4.74/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Hidden Order written by John Henry Holland and published by Addison Wesley Publishing Company. This book was released on 1995-08-21 with total page 216 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Basic elements - Adaptive agents - Echoing emergence - Simulating echo - Toward theory.

Author : M. Mitchell Waldrop
Publisher : Open Road Media
ISBN 13 : 150405914X
Total Pages : 492 pages
Book Rating : 4.45/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Complexity written by M. Mitchell Waldrop and published by Open Road Media. This book was released on 2019-10-01 with total page 492 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “If you liked Chaos, you’ll love Complexity. Waldrop creates the most exciting intellectual adventure story of the year” (The Washington Post). In a rarified world of scientific research, a revolution has been brewing. Its activists are not anarchists, but rather Nobel Laureates in physics and economics and pony-tailed graduates, mathematicians, and computer scientists from all over the world. They have formed an iconoclastic think-tank and their radical idea is to create a new science: complexity. They want to know how a primordial soup of simple molecules managed to turn itself into the first living cell—and what the origin of life some four billion years ago can tell us about the process of technological innovation today. This book is their story—the story of how they have tried to forge what they like to call the science of the twenty-first century. “Lucidly shows physicists, biologists, computer scientists and economists swapping metaphors and reveling in the sense that epochal discoveries are just around the corner . . . [Waldrop] has a special talent for relaying the exhilaration of moments of intellectual insight.” —The New York Times Book Review “Where I enjoyed the book was when it dove into the actual question of complexity, talking about complex systems in economics, biology, genetics, computer modeling, and so on. Snippets of rare beauty here and there almost took your breath away.” —Medium “[Waldrop] provides a good grounding of what may indeed be the first flowering of a new science.” —Publishers Weekly

Author : Scott E. Page
Publisher : Princeton University Press
ISBN 13 : 1400835143
Total Pages : 304 pages
Book Rating : 4.40/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Diversity and Complexity written by Scott E. Page and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2010-11-08 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides an introduction to the role of diversity in complex adaptive systems. A complex system--such as an economy or a tropical ecosystem--consists of interacting adaptive entities that produce dynamic patterns and structures. Diversity plays a different role in a complex system than it does in an equilibrium system, where it often merely produces variation around the mean for performance measures. In complex adaptive systems, diversity makes fundamental contributions to system performance. Scott Page gives a concise primer on how diversity happens, how it is maintained, and how it affects complex systems. He explains how diversity underpins system level robustness, allowing for multiple responses to external shocks and internal adaptations; how it provides the seeds for large events by creating outliers that fuel tipping points; and how it drives novelty and innovation. Page looks at the different kinds of diversity--variations within and across types, and distinct community compositions and interaction structures--and covers the evolution of diversity within complex systems and the factors that determine the amount of maintained diversity within a system. Provides a concise and accessible introduction Shows how diversity underpins robustness and fuels tipping points Covers all types of diversity The essential primer on diversity in complex adaptive systems

Author : G. Edward White
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0199766002
Total Pages : 168 pages
Book Rating : 4.00/5 ( download)

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Download or read book American Legal History: A Very Short Introduction written by G. Edward White and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2014 with total page 168 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A concise examination of the central role of legal decisions in shaping key social issues explores topics ranging from Native American affairs and slavery to business and home life as well as how criminal and civil offenses have been addressed in positive and negative ways. Original.

Author : Neil Johnson
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
ISBN 13 : 1780740492
Total Pages : 256 pages
Book Rating : 4.92/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Simply Complexity written by Neil Johnson and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2009-10-01 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The new branch of science which will reveal how to avoid the rush hour, overcome cancer, and find the perfect date What do traffic jams, stock market crashes, and wars have in common? They are all explained using complexity, an unsolved puzzle that many researchers believe is the key to predicting - and ultimately solving - everything from terrorist attacks and pandemic viruses right down to rush hour traffic congestion. Complexity is considered by many to be the single most important scientific development since general relativity and promises to make sense of no less than the very heart of the Universe. Using it, scientists can find order emerging from seemingly random interactions of all kinds, from something as simple as flipping coins through to more challenging problems such as predicting shopping habits, the patterns in modern jazz, and the growth of cancer tumours.

Author : Stephen Mumford
Publisher : OUP Oxford
ISBN 13 : 0191507385
Total Pages : 144 pages
Book Rating : 4.80/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Causation: A Very Short Introduction written by Stephen Mumford and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2013-11-28 with total page 144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Causation is the most fundamental connection in the universe. Without it, there would be no science or technology. There would be no moral responsibility either, as none of our thoughts would be connected with our actions and none of our actions with any consequences. Nor would we have a system of law because blame resides only in someone having caused injury or damage. Any intervention we make in the world around us is premised on there being causal connections that are, to a degree, predictable. It is causation that is at the basis of prediction and also explanation. This Very Short Introduction introduces the key theories of causation and also the surrounding debates and controversies. Do causes produce their effects by guaranteeing them? Do causes have to precede their effects? Can causation be reduced to the forces of physics? And are we right to think of causation as one single thing at all? ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Author : Kenneth Falconer
Publisher : OUP Oxford
ISBN 13 : 0191663441
Total Pages : 144 pages
Book Rating : 4.44/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Fractals: A Very Short Introduction written by Kenneth Falconer and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2013-09-26 with total page 144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Many are familiar with the beauty and ubiquity of fractal forms within nature. Unlike the study of smooth forms such as spheres, fractal geometry describes more familiar shapes and patterns, such as the complex contours of coastlines, the outlines of clouds, and the branching of trees. In this Very Short Introduction, Kenneth Falconer looks at the roots of the 'fractal revolution' that occurred in mathematics in the 20th century, presents the 'new geometry' of fractals, explains the basic concepts, and explores the wide range of applications in science, and in aspects of economics. This is essential introductory reading for students of mathematics and science, and those interested in popular science and mathematics. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Author : Leonard Smith
Publisher : OUP Oxford
ISBN 13 : 0191579432
Total Pages : 200 pages
Book Rating : 4.31/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Chaos: A Very Short Introduction written by Leonard Smith and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2007-02-22 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Chaos exists in systems all around us. Even the simplest system of cause and effect can be subject to chaos, denying us accurate predictions of its behaviour, and sometimes giving rise to astonishing structures of large-scale order. Our growing understanding of Chaos Theory is having fascinating applications in the real world - from technology to global warming, politics, human behaviour, and even gambling on the stock market. Leonard Smith shows that we all have an intuitive understanding of chaotic systems. He uses accessible maths and physics (replacing complex equations with simple examples like pendulums, railway lines, and tossing coins) to explain the theory, and points to numerous examples in philosophy and literature (Edgar Allen Poe, Chang-Tzu, Arthur Conan Doyle) that illuminate the problems. The beauty of fractal patterns and their relation to chaos, as well as the history of chaos, and its uses in the real world and implications for the philosophy of science are all discussed in this Very Short Introduction. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Author : John H. Holland
Publisher : OUP Oxford
ISBN 13 : 0191639540
Total Pages : 152 pages
Book Rating : 4.48/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Complexity: A Very Short Introduction written by John H. Holland and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2014-07-24 with total page 152 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The importance of complexity is well-captured by Hawking's comment: "Complexity is the science of the 21st century". From the movement of flocks of birds to the Internet, environmental sustainability, and market regulation, the study and understanding of complex non-linear systems has become highly influential over the last 30 years. In this Very Short Introduction, one of the leading figures in the field, John Holland, introduces the key elements and conceptual framework of complexity. From complex physical systems such as fluid flow and the difficulties of predicting weather, to complex adaptive systems such as the highly diverse and interdependent ecosystems of rainforests, he combines simple, well-known examples — Adam Smith's pin factory, Darwin's comet orchid, and Simon's 'watchmaker' — with an account of the approaches, involving agents and urn models, taken by complexity theory. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.