Frontiers Of Complexity

Author : Peter Coveney,Roger Highfield
Publisher : Ballantine Books
Page : 492 pages
File Size : 45,9 Mb
Release : 1996-08-27
Category : Science
ISBN : 0449910814

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Frontiers of Complexity by Peter Coveney,Roger Highfield Pdf

"SCIENCE JOURNALISM AT ITS BEST. . . An impeccably researched, amazingly up-to-date, crisply written and well-illustrated survey." --Nature At the cutting edge of the sciences, a dynamic new concept is emerging: complexity. In this groundbreaking new book, Peter Coveney and Roger Highfield explore how complexity in mathematics, physics, biology, chemistry, and even the social sciences is transforming not only the way we think about the universe, but also the very assumptions that underlie conventional science. Complexity is a watchword for a new way of thinking about the behavior of interacting units, whether they are atoms, ants in a colony, or neurons firing in a human brain. The rise of the electronic computer provided both the key and the catalyst to our exploration of complexity. A new generation of computers that runs on light and exploits the bizarre properties of quantum mechanics promises to deepen our understanding still further. The advances we have already witnessed are spectacular. The authors take us inside laboratories where scientists are evolving the genetic molecules that enabled life to emerge on earth and generating universes teeming with virtual creatures in cyber-space. We witness the utterly realistic behavior of a school of virtual fish--computer-generated replicas that have been trained to swim gracefully, hunt for food, and scatter at the approach of a leopard shark. Compelling in its clarity, far-reaching in its implications, vibrant with the excitement of new discovery, Frontiers of Complexity is an arresting account of how far science has come in the past fifty years and an essential guide to the rapidly approaching future. "[A] MARVELOUS AND COMPREHENSIVE WORK . . . Virtually any scientist or interested lay reader will find this book engrossing, edifying and inspiring." --Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Author : Stasys Jukna
Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
Page : 620 pages
File Size : 42,9 Mb
Release : 2012-01-06
Category : Mathematics
ISBN : 9783642245084

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Boolean Function Complexity by Stasys Jukna Pdf

Boolean circuit complexity is the combinatorics of computer science and involves many intriguing problems that are easy to state and explain, even for the layman. This book is a comprehensive description of basic lower bound arguments, covering many of the gems of this “complexity Waterloo” that have been discovered over the past several decades, right up to results from the last year or two. Many open problems, marked as Research Problems, are mentioned along the way. The problems are mainly of combinatorial flavor but their solutions could have great consequences in circuit complexity and computer science. The book will be of interest to graduate students and researchers in the fields of computer science and discrete mathematics.

Author : Peter V. Coveney,Roger Highfield
Publisher : Fawcett
Page : 498 pages
File Size : 51,7 Mb
Release : 1995
Category : Chaotic behavior in systems
ISBN : STANFORD:36105018334941

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Frontiers of Complexity by Peter V. Coveney,Roger Highfield Pdf

At the cutting edge of the sciences, at the theoretical frontier where breakthroughs in a broad spectrum of fields intersect, a dynamic new concept is emerging: complexity. In this groundbreaking new book, Peter Coveney and Roger Highfield, the scientist coauthors of the highly praised The Arrow of Time, explore how complexity in mathematics, physics, biology, chemistry, and even the social sciences is transforming not only the way we think about the universe, but also the very assumptions that underlie conventional science. Coveney and Highfield define complexity as a watchword for a new way of thinking about the behavior of interacting units, whether they are atoms, bits within a computer, ants in a colony, or the neurons firing in the human brain. Complexity reaches far beyond the concept of chaos and represents a profound shift away from the reductive principle that has guided science for centuries, fostering a new synthesis of concepts across many disciplines. Frontiers of Complexity traces the history of how such giants of science as Charles Babbage, George Boole, Richard Feynman, Kurt G"del, John von Neumann, Ilya Prigogine, and Alan Turing built on each other's work, opening the way for the leap from reductionism to complexity. As Coveney and Highfield so lucidly demonstrate, the rise of the electronic computer provided both the key and the catalyst to our exploration of complexity. A new generation of computers that runs on light, manipulates fuzzy logic, and exploits the bizarre properties of quantum mechanics, promises to deepen our understanding of complexity. The advances we have already witnessed are spectacular. The authors take us inside a laboratory wherescientists are evolving the genetic molecules that enabled life to emerge on earth. Coveney and Highfield describe the work of others who are generating universes in cyberspace filled with a vast array of organisms that compete for resources, reproduce, mutate, and evolve. We witness the utterly realistic behavior of a school of virtual fish--computer-generated replicas that have been trained to swim gracefully, hunt for food, and scatter at the approach of a leopard shark. Already scientists have accurately modeled the brain of a bee, with its one million neurons. Others are beginning to reproduce the way the human brain processes vision, and even the way our genetic code can carry out "calculations" within every cell of our bodies. How much longer will it be before the computer unravels the mysteries of the one-hundred billion neurons of the human brain? Compelling in its clarity, vast in its scope, far-reaching in its implications, vibrant with the excitement of new discovery, Frontiers of Complexity is an arresting account of how far science has come in the past fifty years and an essential guide to the rapidly approaching future.

Author : Peter Coveney,Roger Highfield
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 462 pages
File Size : 43,6 Mb
Release : 1995
Category : Chaotic behavior in systems
ISBN : 0571169910

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Frontiers of Complexity by Peter Coveney,Roger Highfield Pdf

Author : Kenneth Boulding,Elias Khalil
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 398 pages
File Size : 43,8 Mb
Release : 2002-01-04
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9781134775842

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Evolution, Order and Complexity by Kenneth Boulding,Elias Khalil Pdf

Evolution, Order and Complexity reflects topical interest in the relationship between the social and natural worlds. It represents the cutting edge of current thinking which challenges the natural/social dichotomy thesis by showing how the application of ideas which derive from biology can be applied and offer insight into the social realm. This is done by introducing the general system theory to the methodological debate on the relation of human and natural sciences.

Author : Richard J. Sampson,Richard S. Pinner
Publisher : Multilingual Matters
Page : 422 pages
File Size : 55,9 Mb
Release : 2020-10-23
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 9781788923576

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Complexity Perspectives on Researching Language Learner and Teacher Psychology by Richard J. Sampson,Richard S. Pinner Pdf

This edited volume brings together both established and emerging researcher voices from around the world to illustrate how complexity perspectives might contribute to new ways of researching and understanding the psychology of language learners and teachers in situated educational contexts. Chapter authors discuss their own perspectives on researching within a complexity paradigm, exemplified by concrete and original examples from their research histories. Moreover, chapters explore research approaches to a variety of learner and teacher psychological foci of interest in SLA. Examples include: anxiety, classroom group dynamics and group-level motivation, cognition and metacognition, emotions and emotion regulation strategies, learner reticence and silence, motivation, self-concept and willingness to communicate.

Author : Victor Galaz
Publisher : Edward Elgar Publishing
Page : 336 pages
File Size : 45,6 Mb
Release : 2019-12-27
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781788115421

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Global Challenges, Governance, and Complexity by Victor Galaz Pdf

There is an increased interest in integrating insights from the complexity sciences to studies of governance and policy. While the issue has been debated, and the term of ‘complexity’ has multiple and sometimes contested interpretations, it is also clear the field has spurred a number of interesting theoretical and empirical efforts. The book includes key thinkers in the field, elaborates on different analytical approaches in studying governance, institutions and policy in the face of complexity, and showcases empirical applications and insights.

Author : Mariana Benítez,Octavio Miramontes,Alfonso Valiente-Banuet
Publisher : CopIt ArXives
Page : 283 pages
File Size : 47,6 Mb
Release : 2014-07-08
Category : Science
ISBN : 9781938128059

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Frontiers in Ecology, Evolution and Complexity by Mariana Benítez,Octavio Miramontes,Alfonso Valiente-Banuet Pdf

Advances in molecular biology, remote sensing, systems biology, bioinformatics, non-linear science, the physics of complex systems and other fields have rendered a great amount of data that remain to be integrated into models and theories that are capable of accounting for the complexity of ecological systems and the evolutionary dynamics of life. It is thus necessary to provide a solid basis to discuss and reflect on these and other challenges both at the local and global scales. This volume aims to delineate an integrative and interdisciplinary view that suggests new avenues in research and teaching, critically discusses the scope of the diverse methods in the study of complex systems, and points at key open questions. Finally, this book will provide students and specialists with a collection of high quality open access essays that will contribute to integrate Ecology, Evolution and Complexity in the context of basic research and in the field of Sustainability Sciences.

Author : Peter Coveney,Roger Highfield
Publisher : National Geographic Books
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 50,9 Mb
Release : 1996-08-27
Category : Science
ISBN : 9780449910818

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Frontiers of Complexity by Peter Coveney,Roger Highfield Pdf

"SCIENCE JOURNALISM AT ITS BEST. . . An impeccably researched, amazingly up-to-date, crisply written and well-illustrated survey." --Nature At the cutting edge of the sciences, a dynamic new concept is emerging: complexity. In this groundbreaking new book, Peter Coveney and Roger Highfield explore how complexity in mathematics, physics, biology, chemistry, and even the social sciences is transforming not only the way we think about the universe, but also the very assumptions that underlie conventional science. Complexity is a watchword for a new way of thinking about the behavior of interacting units, whether they are atoms, ants in a colony, or neurons firing in a human brain. The rise of the electronic computer provided both the key and the catalyst to our exploration of complexity. A new generation of computers that runs on light and exploits the bizarre properties of quantum mechanics promises to deepen our understanding still further. The advances we have already witnessed are spectacular. The authors take us inside laboratories where scientists are evolving the genetic molecules that enabled life to emerge on earth and generating universes teeming with virtual creatures in cyber-space. We witness the utterly realistic behavior of a school of virtual fish--computer-generated replicas that have been trained to swim gracefully, hunt for food, and scatter at the approach of a leopard shark. Compelling in its clarity, far-reaching in its implications, vibrant with the excitement of new discovery, Frontiers of Complexity is an arresting account of how far science has come in the past fifty years and an essential guide to the rapidly approaching future. "[A] MARVELOUS AND COMPREHENSIVE WORK . . . Virtually any scientist or interested lay reader will find this book engrossing, edifying and inspiring." --Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Author : Alexander S. Mikhailov,Gerhard Ertl
Publisher : Springer
Page : 208 pages
File Size : 52,9 Mb
Release : 2017-08-10
Category : Science
ISBN : 9783319573779

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Chemical Complexity by Alexander S. Mikhailov,Gerhard Ertl Pdf

This book provides an outline of theoretical concepts and their experimental verification in studies of self-organization phenomena in chemical systems, as they emerged in the mid-20th century and have evolved since. Presenting essays on selected topics, it was prepared by authors who have made profound contributions to the field. Traditionally, physical chemistry has been concerned with interactions between atoms and molecules that produce a variety of equilibrium structures - or the 'dead' order - in a stationary state. But biological cells exhibit a different 'living' kind of order, prompting E. Schrödinger to pose his famous question “What is life?” in 1943. Through an unprecedented theoretical and experimental development, it was later revealed that biological self-organization phenomena are in complete agreement with the laws of physics, once they are applied to a special class of thermodynamically open systems and non-equilibrium states. This knowledge has in turn led to the design and synthesis of simple inorganic systems capable of self-organization effects. These artificial 'living organisms' are able to operate on macroscopic to microscopic scales, even down to single-molecule machines. In the future, such research could provide a basis for a technological breakthrough, comparable in its impact with the invention of lasers and semiconductors. Its results can be used to control natural chemical processes, and to design artificial complex chemical processes with various functionalities. The book offers an extensive discussion of the history of research on complex chemical systems and its future prospects.

Author : Kees van Kooten Niekerk,Hans Buhl
Publisher : Taylor & Francis
Page : 181 pages
File Size : 49,6 Mb
Release : 2023-01-06
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9781000888089

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The Significance of Complexity by Kees van Kooten Niekerk,Hans Buhl Pdf

Originally published in 2004. Thanks to computer simulations science is beginning to understand complex natural processes such as the weather, earthquakes and the evolution of life. The Significance of Complexity deals with the importance of the sciences of complexity - for the humanities and theology. First, three scientists explain the science of complexity and illustrate it with concrete examples. Second, two scholars consider the concept of complexity and possible applications of complexity theory within the humanities, e.g. as a tool to understand the interplay between the artist, the work of art and the user in interactive art. Finally, three theologians ask what can be learned from the science of complexity for a religious understanding of humankind and the world. The Significance of Complexity is a pioneering work exploring the import of a fascinating new branch of science for human self-understanding. It caters for all those who are interested in relating science to the quest for the meaning of life.

Author : Denise P Schaan
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 234 pages
File Size : 42,5 Mb
Release : 2016-06-16
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781315420523

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Sacred Geographies of Ancient Amazonia by Denise P Schaan Pdf

The legendary El Dorado—the city of gold—remains a mere legend, but astonishing new discoveries are revealing a major civilization in ancient Amazonia that was more complex than anyone previously dreamed. Scholars have long insisted that the Amazonian ecosystem placed severe limits on the size and complexity of its ancient cultures, but leading researcher Denise Schaan reverses that view, synthesizing exciting new evidence of large-scale land and resource management to tell a new history of indigenous Amazonia. Schaan also engages fundamental debates about the development of social complexity and the importance of ancient Amazonia from a global perspective. This innovative, interdisciplinary book is a major contribution to the study of human-environment relations, social complexity, and past and present indigenous societies.

Author : Heribert Vollmer
Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
Page : 277 pages
File Size : 51,9 Mb
Release : 2013-04-17
Category : Computers
ISBN : 9783662039274

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Introduction to Circuit Complexity by Heribert Vollmer Pdf

An advanced textbook giving a broad, modern view of the computational complexity theory of boolean circuits, with extensive references, for theoretical computer scientists and mathematicians.

Author : John Casti
Publisher : Perseus Books Group
Page : 272 pages
File Size : 51,9 Mb
Release : 1997
Category : Computers
ISBN : UOM:39015038123785

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Would-Be Worlds by John Casti Pdf

There is a new breed of computer simulations, known as 'artificial worlds' or 'would-be worlds', that allows scientists to create artificial versions of real-life phenomena inside their computers. Casti explores how these are being used.

Author : W. Brian Arthur,Eric Beinhocker,Allison Stanger
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 382 pages
File Size : 53,5 Mb
Release : 2020-12
Category : Science
ISBN : 1947864378

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Complexity Economics by W. Brian Arthur,Eric Beinhocker,Allison Stanger Pdf

When Santa Fe Institute scientists first started working on economics more than thirty years ago, many of their insights, approaches, and tools were considered beyond heterodox. These once-disparaged approaches included network economics, agents of limited rationality, and institutional evolution-all topics that are now increasingly considered mainstream. SFI continues to expand the boundary of our economic understanding by pioneering fields as diverse as collective intelligence and organizational scaling. This volume, edited by W. Brian Arthur, Eric D. Beinhocker, and Allison Stanger, includes panel and talk transcripts from SFI's 2019 Applied Complexity Network Symposium, with newly written introductions and reflections. Representing both scholarly and practitioner perspectives, this book explores the history and frontiers of complexity economics in a broad-ranging, accessible manner.