Simply Complexity
A Clear Guide to Complexity Theory
1st Edition
Published on 1. October 2009
256 pages
978-1-78074-049-2 (ISBN)
Description
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 it 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 the patterns in modern jazz, the growth of cancer tumours, and predicting shopping habits.
Complexity is considered by many to be the single most important scientific development since general relativity and it 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 the patterns in modern jazz, the growth of cancer tumours, and predicting shopping habits.
Reviews / Votes
"Johnson's book fills a long-overdue need for an engaging semipopular book about complexity science, one that is also strong on the underlying scientific and theoretical concepts." "Highly recommended." * Choice * "Neil Johnson has provided a readable account of the science of complexity" * Oxford Times *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
File size
0,79 MB
ISBN-13
978-1-78074-049-2 (9781780740492)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
10/2009
Oneworld Publications
€14.00
Shipment within 3-4 weeks
Person
Neil Johnson is the head of a new inter-disciplinary research group in Complexity at University of Miami in Florida. Previously he was Professor of Physics and co-director of research collaboration into Complexity at Oxford University.
Content
- Intro
- Title Page
- Copyright
- Contents
- Preface
- Part 1: What exactly is Complexity Science?
- Chapter 1: Two's Company, Three is Complexity
- 1.1. A definition, of sorts
- 1.2. Complexity in action
- 1.3. Why is my own life so complex?
- 1.4. The key components of Complexity
- 1.5. Complexity: the Science of all Sciences
- Chapter 2: Disorder rules, OK?
- 2.1. Another day at the office
- 2.2. If things can get worse, they probably will
- 2.3. We need feedback
- 2.4. Life is just a pocket of order
- 2.5. Our Universe's bleak future
- 2.6. Air, air everywhere - we hope
- 2.7. Our biased world
- Chapter 3: Chaos and all that jazz
- 3.1. Dealing with office dynamics
- 3.2. Systematic interns, and careless ones
- 3.3. Don't worry, it's just chaos
- 3.4. If I remember correctly, I am living on the edge
- 3.5. There's music, and then there's everything else
- 3.6. What happens when I'm not looking?
- Chapter 4: Mob mentality
- 4.1. I'm a person, not a particle
- 4.2. Thank God it's Friday
- 4.3. Knowing what it means to win
- 4.4. To bar, or not to bar?
- 4.5. Crowds and Anticrowds
- 4.6. Another frustrating experience
- 4.7. Evolution management: Engineering the future
- Chapter 5: Getting connected
- 5.1. Knowing me, knowing you
- 5.2. Small worlds, large worlds and in-between worlds
- 5.3. The importance of networking
- 5.4. How things grow: Is it really all in the genes?
- 5.5. Looking at money on trees
- 5.6. Globalization: Fairness vs. efficiency
- 5.7. The story so far
- Part 2: What can Complexity Science do for me?
- Chapter 6: Forecasting financial markets
- 6.1. What goes up, must come down: But when?
- 6.2. The problem with finance theory as it stands - or walks
- 6.3. A complex walk along Wall Street
- 6.4. Going from the bar to the market
- 6.5. Look out, we're going to crash
- 6.6. Predicting the future
- 6.7. News, rumors and terrorism
- Chapter 7: Tackling traffic networks and climbing the corporate ladder
- 7.1. Going back to our routes
- 7.2. Time is money
- 7.3. Creative congestion charging
- 7.4. Different shape, same function
- 7.5. Should I stay at my own level?
- Chapter 8: Looking for Mr./Ms. Right
- 8.1. The perfect pair
- 8.2. Virtual dating
- 8.3. Radioactive relationships
- 8.4. Here comes your super-date
- 8.5. A more sophisticated dating scene
- 8.6. Wolves, dogs and sheep
- Chapter 9: Coping with conflict: Next-generation wars and global terrorism
- 9.1. War and Complexity
- 9.2. The Law of War
- 9.3. The universal pattern underlying modern wars and terrorism
- 9.4. A Complex Systems model of modern warfare
- 9.5. The timing of attacks
- Chapter 10: Catching a cold, avoiding super-flu and curing cancer
- 10.1. Natural-born killers
- 10.2. From communities to classes
- 10.3. Kids, colds and contagion
- 10.4. Cancer: how to starve a tumor?
- 10.5. Showdown: Superbugs vs. the immune system
- Chapter 11: The Mother of all Complexities: Our nanoscale quantum world
- 11.1. Einstein's spookiness
- 11.2. Three is a crowd, but so is two
- 11.3. The secret nanoscale life of plants, bacteria and brains
- 11.4. Quantum gaming
- 11.5. Many wrongs can make a right
- Chapter 12: To infinity and beyond
- 12.1. The inadequate infinity of physicists
- 12.2. The future is bright, the future is Complex
- Appendix: Further Information
- A. Complexity, Complex Systems and centers of study
- B. Downloadable research papers
- Index
