Complexity: Life at the Edge of Chaos

by Roger Lewin

Book Overview

"Put together one of the world's best science writers with one of the universe's most fascinating subjects and you are bound to produce a wonderful book. . . . The subject of complexity is vital and controversial. This book is important and beautifully done."--Stephen Jay Gould "?Complexity? is that curious mix of complication and organization that we find throughout the natural and human worlds: the workings of a cell, the structure of the brain,...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0020147953
• ISBN13: 9780020147954
• Release Date: January 1994
• Publisher: Collier Books
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.1" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Intriguing and thought provoking.

This was a very intriguing book. The author's method of discussing the topic is by interviewing the various individuals involved in complexity research. It is sometimes a little difficult to follow because it's difficult to decide who is doing the questioning and who the answering, but once past that, the reader will find that the author follows a very coherent outline of the topic. In general Lewin starts with the inception of the concept by its various originators and the way that they have developed methods (largely computerized programs) to test their hypotheses. He also discusses the difficulty which these individuals met in trying to promote their ideas of complexity, chaos, and self-organizing criticality to the various academic departments to which they were attached. The author interviews a number of the best known scientists for their impressions of the output of the research into complexity. Some meet it with great skepticism while others, though cautious, seem to think that complexity theory has a great deal to say about dynamic complex systems. Those of you unfamiliar with complexity but have read something on chaos theory or self-organizing criticality (particularly Per Bok's how nature works: The Science of Self-Organized Criticality (Copernicus)) will realize that this is simply another component of the dynamic system, another way of putting mathematics and computer generated programs to use in understanding things like evolution of species and ecosystems, of financial, business, and economic systems, and natural physical phenomena, even historic events (such as the abandonment of the Chaco Canyon Pueblo system. I found especially interesting the appendices, particularly that dealing with global economics and business. It was interesting to see what the predictions were and what the author and his sources thought businesses should do to make their particular market share more stable in a world economy that is forever changing not only within a specific region or a specific business type but within an entire suite of interacting businesses world wide. Very worthwhile reading.

Engagingly Written Science

Roger Lewin engagingly writes of his discussions with leaders in the field of complexity, the study of non-linear, dynamical systems in the life sciences. Studies in 'chaos' theory and related fields like cellular automata have led to new formulations of self-organization and non-vitalistic emergence in living systems. Although still considered a fringe element by some of their colleagues, people like Stuart Kauffman, Chris Langton, Norman Packard and others are exploring models of "...common dynamical patterns in the realms of physics, biology, and society..." (193) which may radically change our understandings of evolution and consciousness. A cheering trend toward non-aristotelian directions.

Why read complexity?

I am not a scientist. I am, however, interested in a wide variety of subjects and fascinated by complexity. I am not referring now to the book, or the subject but the expression in the real world of all that there is to know and understand. How can anyone live and not recognise at the deepest levels of their understanding that everything that exists does so in dependence on other things that exist and that this interdependence, because of the number of dynamic variables, cannot be described otherwise than a complex system. It is at this point that anyone who has read the book or who is a part of this book will protest that I have missed the point. I have not. This book isn't about a vague subjective comprehension of all things being related. It is much more scientific than that. I have started off this way because I am aware that in the hustle of everyday life-the place where most readers of books reside-the subject of the science of complexity is beyond even the periphery of what might occur to them as a topic to take an interest in, let alone find relevant. Having a general, non-expert appreciation for the immense complexity of which we are a part is an appropriate mindset to bring to any reading of the subject. The book is deserving of a wider appeal than for just new wave idea groupies. I find Lewin strikes the right balance with his reader presenting difficult concepts with elegant clarity yet providing enough detail to challenge the reader. To make the material too simple would leave the concepts incoherent-to provide too much would leave the reader behind. He also presents a balanced view of the subject. There are detractors in the scientific community. They are heard from. Lewin develops various concepts directly related to complexity rather cleverly. We are given a piece of concept that is added onto later in a different context providing us with a kaleidoscopic way of thinking of the material. It is all connected but our focus shifts slightly giving us a new view of the subject. In the beginning there were Boolean Networks. Other concepts follow: edge of chaos; complex adaptive systems; emergence. If anyone has ever wondered even in passing why is it that discrete bits of biota or data that do not amount to much in themselves can produce not only something more complex when put together but something that is more than the sum of its parts then Complexity is of interest to you. This book doesn't have to be the final authority or explain it all to be a very good read. And, in reference to other reviews, novel new ways of approaching scientific inquiry don't come from just anyone. Personalities matter. Putting the subject of complexity in the context of those who have been pursuing its secrets is not only acceptable but adds to our understanding. The implications for the opening up of new ways of seeing what we've heretofore been looking at `through a glass darkly' are incredible. I can see why some of the leading scientists might f

A fine introduction and an interesting read

The science of complexity, a discipline unique to the computer age, was born of chaos and a growing sense that there is something amenable to scientific inquiry about complex systems that we are missing. Before we had the number crunching power of computers, complexity could not be explored because the many variables resulted in astronomical calculations.In this revision of his book originally published in 1992, Roger Lewin explains what the science of complexity is all about through interviews with some of its most important practitioners (and critics) organized around some of the central ideas. As such this is both a fine introduction to the subject and an interesting read. Lewin includes 16 pages of photos of the scientists he interviewed captioned with a significant quote from each. He has added an afterword on the application of complexity science to business, and an appendix about John Holland, whom he dubs, "Mr. Emergence.""Everything works toward an ecology" is an old dictum of mine. I have the sense that I came up with that myself, but I probably read it somewhere years ago. At any rate, what is being said here is that complex systems work toward a state of equilibrium near a transition phase, near "the edge of chaos." This equilibrium can be an ecology (Darwin's "tangled web"); indeed it can be the entire planet, as in the concept of Gaia in which "the Earth's biological and physical systems are tightly coupled in a giant homeostatic system" (quoting Stuart Kauffman on page 109).A central idea is that "...large, interactive systems-dynamical systems-naturally evolve toward a critical state" (physicist Per Bak, quoted on page 61). These systems include weather, financial markets, piles of sand, and most significantly, ecologies, so that evolution itself is seen as shaped by the dynamics of complexity. Complexity is the "interesting" middle ground between order and the purely random, between the crystalized structure of ice and the Brownian motion of molecules. I had a curious sense of understanding when I compared these three states with positions at chess. First there is the even, static position, perhaps with bishops of opposite color in which no progress can be made, a drawn the inevitable result. Second there is the wildly chaotic position so complex that no one can completely calculate it, say the board after black takes white's queen knight pawn in the "poisoned pawn" variation of the Najdorf Sicilian. In between are the "interesting" positions in which one side might have a small advantage or there might be a dynamic balance of advantages, space versus material, for example, in which a startling combination might be hidden.These states-"at the edge of chaos"-are seen here as analogous to the phrase transition states of matter, from liquid to gas, for example. The idea is that there is a naturally occurring property of the physical world that forces complex systems into stable,

A Great Introduction to "Complexity"

This book was my introduction to the field of complex adaptive systems. The concepts it contains changed the way I view the world. Roger Lewin mixes an overview of the subject (as it is emerging) with brief biographies of the pioneers in complexity theory. His writing makes it accessible -- and at the same time, a very enjoyable read. Of the introductory books on the topic, this one is the best.