Thinking in Complexity: The Computational Dynamics of Matter, Mind, and MankindThe theory of nonlinear, complex systems has become by now a proven problem-solving approach in the natural sciences. And it is now also recognized that many if not most of our social, ecological, economical and political problems are essentially of a global, complex and nonlinear nature. And it is now further accepted than any holistic perspective of the human mind and brain can hardly be achieved by any other approach. In this wide-ranging, scholarly but very concise treatment, physicist, computer scientist and philosopher Klaus Mainzer discusses, in essentially nontechnical language, the common framework behind these ideas and challenges. Emphasis is given to the evolution of new structures in natural and cultural systems and we are lead to see clearly how the new integrative approach can give insights not available from traditional reductionistic methods. The fifth edition enlarges and revises almost all sections and supplements an entirely new chapter on the complexity of economic systems. From the reviews of the fourth edition: "This book is ambitious, incredibly erudite with 22 pages of references, and is indisputably clearly and beautifully written and illustrated. It is perfectly suited to a first course on the science of complexity. Even beginners and young graduate students will have something to learn from this book." (Andre Hautot, Physicalia, Vol. 57 (3), 2005) "All-in-all, this highly recommended book is a wonderful resource for intuitive basic ideas in the need of rigorous formulation." (Albert A. Mullin, Zentralblatt MATH, vol. 1046, 2004) "Readers of this book will enjoy Mainzer's exposition, which is based on a tight coupling between classical and historical concepts from Plato and Aristotle to modern, mathematical and physical developments . Every chapter begins with a section designed to orient the reader to the perspective of philosophical developments through the ages pertinent to the topic at hand. The author takes pains to point out essential differences between classical science and the science of complexity. Thinking in Complexity is an outstandingly readable book." (Anutosh Moitra, The Industrial Physicist, August/September, 2004) |
From inside the book
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... function are replaced by quantum systems (for instance electrons or photons) described by a Hamiltonian operator ... functions) of a Hilbert space spanned by the eigenvectors of its Hamiltonian operator. The causal dynamics of quantum ...
... functions. A well-known example is the bell-shaped Gaussian curve of the normal distribution. This is, however, only one example of a probabilistic attractor in the functional space of probability density functions. The set of ...
... functions of living organisms to be explained? The suggestion that certain corporeal forms are as they are in order to ... function. The process and courses of life are known to us from everyday experience. What is more obvious than to ...
... Function f is indeed uniformly convergent. Therefore for arbitrarily small ε > 0 one can choose an index N0 so that for all N ≥ N0 and all t, it holds true that |f(t) − SN(t)| < ε (2.6) Astronomically, this result means that a ...
... function and to visualize it as the tangent vector of the corresponding curve (Fig. 2.4a). The velocity vector field has become one of the basic concepts in dynamical systems theory (Fig. 2.4b). Trajectories determine velocity vectors ...
Contents
1 | |
10 | |
17 | |
Complex Systems and the Evolution of Life | 87 |
Complex Systems and the Evolution of MindBrain | 123 |
Complex Systems and the Evolution of Computability | 179 |
Complex Systems and the Evolution of Economies | 311 |
Complex Systems and the Evolution of Human Culture and Society 367 | 366 |
Epilogue on Future Science and Ethics | 417 |
References 441 | 440 |
Subject Index | 469 |
Name Index 479 | 478 |