Download or read book Social Emergence written by R. Keith Sawyer and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2005-10-27 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book argues that societies are complex dynamical systems that can be understood through the concept of emergence.
Download or read book Why Society is a Complex Matter written by Philip Ball and published by Springer. This book was released on 2012-06-08 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Society is complicated. But this book argues that this does not place it beyond the reach of a science that can help to explain and perhaps even to predict social behaviour. As a system made up of many interacting agents – people, groups, institutions and governments, as well as physical and technological structures such as roads and computer networks – society can be regarded as a complex system. In recent years, scientists have made great progress in understanding how such complex systems operate, ranging from animal populations to earthquakes and weather. These systems show behaviours that cannot be predicted or intuited by focusing on the individual components, but which emerge spontaneously as a consequence of their interactions: they are said to be ‘self-organized’. Attempts to direct or manage such emergent properties generally reveal that ‘top-down’ approaches, which try to dictate a particular outcome, are ineffectual, and that what is needed instead is a ‘bottom-up’ approach that aims to guide self-organization towards desirable states. This book shows how some of these ideas from the science of complexity can be applied to the study and management of social phenomena, including traffic flow, economic markets, opinion formation and the growth and structure of cities. Building on these successes, the book argues that the complex-systems view of the social sciences has now matured sufficiently for it to be possible, desirable and perhaps essential to attempt a grander objective: to integrate these efforts into a unified scheme for studying, understanding and ultimately predicting what happens in the world we have made. Such a scheme would require the mobilization and collaboration of many different research communities, and would allow society and its interactions with the physical environment to be explored through realistic models and large-scale data collection and analysis. It should enable us to find new and effective solutions to major global problems such as conflict, disease, financial instability, environmental despoliation and poverty, while avoiding unintended policy consequences. It could give us the foresight to anticipate and ameliorate crises, and to begin tackling some of the most intractable problems of the twenty-first century.
Download or read book Complex Systems and Society written by Nicola Bellomo and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-05-24 with total page 102 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This work aims to foster the interdisciplinary dialogue between mathematicians and socio-economic scientists. Interaction among scholars and practitioners traditionally coming from different research areas is necessary more than ever in order to better understand many real-world problems we face today. On the one hand, mathematicians need economists and social scientists to better address the methodologies they design in a more realistic way; on the other hand, economists and social scientists need to be aware of sound mathematical modelling tools in order to understand and, ultimately, solve the complex problems they encounter in their research. With this goal in mind, this work is designed to take into account a multidisciplinary approach that will encourage the transfer of knowledge, ideas, and methodology from one discipline to the other. In particular, the work has three main themes: Demystifying and unravelling complex systems; Introducing models of individual behaviours in the social and economic sciences; Modelling socio-economic sciences as complex living systems. Specific tools examined in the work include a recently developed modelling approach using stochastic game theory within the framework of statistical mechanics and progressing up to modeling Darwinian evolution. Special attention is also devoted to social network theory as a fundamental instrument for the understanding of socio-economic systems.
Download or read book A Crude Look at the Whole written by John H. Miller and published by Basic Books. This book was released on 2016-01-05 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A top expert explains why a social and economic understanding of complex systems will help society to anticipate and confront our biggest challenges Imagine trying to understand a stained glass window by breaking it into pieces and examining it one shard at a time. While you could probably learn a lot about each piece, you would have no idea about what the entire picture looks like. This is reductionism -- the idea that to understand the world we only need to study its pieces -- and it is how most social scientists approach their work. In A Crude Look at the Whole, social scientist and economist John H. Miller shows why we need to start looking at whole pictures. For one thing, whether we are talking about stock markets, computer networks, or biological organisms, individual parts only make sense when we remember that they are part of larger wholes. And perhaps more importantly, those wholes can take on behaviors that are strikingly different from that of their pieces. Miller, a leading expert in the computational study of complex adaptive systems, reveals astounding global patterns linking the organization of otherwise radically different structures: It might seem crude, but a beehive's temperature control system can help predict market fluctuations and a mammal's heartbeat can help us understand the "heartbeat" of a city and adapt urban planning accordingly. From enduring racial segregation to sudden stock market disasters, once we start drawing links between complex systems, we can start solving what otherwise might be totally intractable problems. Thanks to this revolutionary perspective, we can finally transcend the limits of reductionism and discover crucial new ideas. Scientifically founded and beautifully written, A Crude Look at the Whole is a powerful exploration of the challenges that we face as a society. As it reveals, taking the crude look might be the only way to truly see.
Download or read book A Complex Systems Perspective of Communication from Cells to Societies written by Anamaria Berea and published by BoD – Books on Demand. This book was released on 2019-03-20 with total page 100 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is an interdisciplinary effort to understand the evolution of communication from cells to societies, both in living organisms and in non-living ones, such as designed or emergent systems from socio-technological innovations (i.e., digital communication, institutional communication). It aims to provide better understanding of the universal versus contextual patterns of communication that we can potentially classify and identify if we look deeper into the history and evolution of this phenomenon at large. Novel research from a variety of disciplines, such as information theory, biology, linguistics, culture and social science that take a complex perspective is being explored, for an integrated understanding of what communication is at a fundamental level.
Download or read book Complex Systems in Sport written by Keith Davids and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-11-20 with total page 366 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Complex systems in nature are those with many interacting parts, all capable of influencing global system outcomes. There is a growing body of research that has modeled sport performance from a complexity sciences perspective, studying the behavior of individual athletes and sports teams as emergent phenomena which self-organise under interacting constraints. This book is the first to bring together experts studying complex systems in the context of sport from across the world to collate core theoretical ideas, current methodologies and existing data into one comprehensive resource. It offers new methods of analysis for investigating representative complex sport movements and actions at an individual and team level, exploring the application of methodologies from the complexity sciences in the context of sports performance and the organization of sport practice. Complex Systems in Sport is important reading for any advanced student or researcher working in sport and exercise science, sports coaching, kinesiology or human movement.
Download or read book Foundations of Complex system Theories written by Sunny Y. Auyang and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1998 with total page 422 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Analyzes approaches to the study of complexity in the physical, biological, and social sciences.
Download or read book Strategy for Managing Complex Systems written by Fredmund Malik and published by Campus Verlag. This book was released on 2016-05-12 with total page 565 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Malik demonstrates that management and management theory have strong foundations in systems science, and most specifically in a certain type of cybernetics of truly complex systems, of organismic, self-organizing, and evolving systems. This book provides the basics on how to create robust, functional, and sustainably viable systems. One of the reasons why it has become a classic on management cybernetics, now in its 11th edition, is that the strategies and heuristic principles of complexity management are still relevant - now more than ever."--Back cover.
Download or read book Viability and Resilience of Complex Systems written by Guillaume Deffuant and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2011-08-03 with total page 227 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One common characteristics of a complex system is its ability to withstand major disturbances and the capacity to rebuild itself. Understanding how such systems demonstrate resilience by absorbing or recovering from major external perturbations requires both quantitative foundations and a multidisciplinary view on the topic. This book demonstrates how new methods can be used to identify the actions favouring the recovery from perturbations. Examples discussed include bacterial biofilms resisting detachment, grassland savannahs recovering from fire, the dynamics of language competition and Internet social networking sites overcoming vandalism. The reader is taken through an introduction to the idea of resilience and viability and shown the mathematical basis of the techniques used to analyse systems. The idea of individual or agent-based modelling of complex systems is introduced and related to analytically tractable approximations of such models. A set of case studies illustrates the use of the techniques in real applications, and the final section describes how one can use new and elaborate software tools for carrying out the necessary calculations. The book is intended for a general scientific audience of readers from the natural and social sciences, yet requires some mathematics to gain a full understanding of the more theoretical chapters. It is an essential point of reference for those interested in the practical application of the concepts of resilience and viability
Download or read book Complex Systems Science in Biomedicine written by Thomas Deisboeck and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2007-06-13 with total page 857 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Complex Systems Science in Biomedicine Thomas S. Deisboeck and J. Yasha Kresh Complex Systems Science in Biomedicine covers the emerging field of systems science involving the application of physics, mathematics, engineering and computational methods and techniques to the study of biomedicine including nonlinear dynamics at the molecular, cellular, multi-cellular tissue, and organismic level. With all chapters helmed by leading scientists in the field, Complex Systems Science in Biomedicine's goal is to offer its audience a timely compendium of the ongoing research directed to the understanding of biological processes as whole systems instead of as isolated component parts. In Parts I & II, Complex Systems Science in Biomedicine provides a general systems thinking perspective and presents some of the fundamental theoretical underpinnings of this rapidly emerging field. Part III then follows with a multi-scaled approach, spanning from the molecular to macroscopic level, exemplified by studying such diverse areas as molecular networks and developmental processes, the immune and nervous systems, the heart, cancer and multi-organ failure. The volume concludes with Part IV that addresses methods and techniques driven in design and development by this new understanding of biomedical science. Key Topics Include: • Historic Perspectives of General Systems Thinking • Fundamental Methods and Techniques for Studying Complex Dynamical Systems • Applications from Molecular Networks to Disease Processes • Enabling Technologies for Exploration of Systems in the Life Sciences Complex Systems Science in Biomedicine is essential reading for experimental, theoretical, and interdisciplinary scientists working in the biomedical research field interested in a comprehensive overview of this rapidly emerging field. About the Editors: Thomas S. Deisboeck is currently Assistant Professor of Radiology at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston. An expert in interdisciplinary cancer modeling, Dr. Deisboeck is Director of the Complex Biosystems Modeling Laboratory which is part of the Harvard-MIT Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging. J. Yasha Kresh is currently Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery and Research Director, Professor of Medicine and Director of Cardiovascular Biophysics at the Drexel University College of Medicine. An expert in dynamical systems, he holds appointments in the School of Biomedical Engineering and Health Systems, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering and Molecular Pathobiology Program. Prof. Kresh is Fellow of the American College of Cardiology, American Heart Association, Biomedical Engineering Society, American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering.
Download or read book Social Complexity and Complex Systems in Archaeology written by Dries Daems and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2021-02-22 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Social Complexity and Complex Systems in Archaeology turns to complex systems thinking in search of a suitable framework to explore social complexity in Archaeology. Social complexity in archaeology is commonly related to properties of complex societies such as states, as opposed to so-called simple societies such as tribes or chiefdoms. These conceptualisations of complexity are ultimately rooted in Eurocentric perspectives with problematic implications for the field of archaeology. This book provides an in-depth conceptualisation of social complexity as the core concept in archaeological and interdisciplinary studies of the past, integrating approaches from complex systems thinking, archaeological theory, social practice theory, and sustainability and resilience science. The book covers a long-term perspective of social change and stability, tracing the full cycle of complexity trajectories, from emergence and development to collapse, regeneration and transformation of communities and societies. It offers a broad vision on social complexity as a core concept for the present and future development of archaeology. This book is intended to be a valuable resource for students and scholars in the field of archaeology and related disciplines such as history, anthropology, sociology, as well as the natural sciences studying human-environment interactions in the past.
Download or read book Sociology and Complexity Science written by Brian Castellani and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2009-10-03 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: By now, most academics have heard something about the new science of complexity. In a manner reminiscent of Einstein and the last hundred years of physics, complexity science has captured the public imagination. ® One can go to Amazon. com and purchase books on complexification (Casti 1994), emergence (Holland 1998), small worlds (Barabási 2003), the web of life (Capra 1996), fuzzy thinking (Kosko 1993), global c- plexity (Urry 2003) and the business of long-tails (Anderson 2006). Even television has incorporated the topics of complexity science. Crime shows ® ® such as 24 or CSI typically feature investigators using the latest advances in computational modeling to “simulate scenarios” or “data mine” all p- sible suspects—all of which is done before the crime takes place. The ® World Wide Web is another example. A simple search on Google. Com using the phrase “complexity science” gets close to a million hits! C- plexity science is ubiquitous. What most scholars do not realize, however, is the remarkable role sociologists are playing in this new science. C- sider the following examples. 0. 1 Sociologists in Complexity Science The first example comes from the new science of networks (Barabási 2003). By now, most readers are familiar with the phenomena known as six-degrees of separation—the idea that, because most large networks are comprised of a significant number of non-random weak-ties, the nodes (e. g. , people, companies, etc.
Download or read book Energy in Nature and Society written by Vaclav Smil and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2008 with total page 495 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A comprehensive, systematic, analytically unified, and interdisciplinary treatment of energy in nature and society, from solar radiation and photosynthesis to our fossil fueled civilization and its environmental consequences.
Download or read book The Collapse of Complex Societies written by Joseph Tainter and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1988 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Dr Tainter describes nearly two dozen cases of collapse and reviews more than 2000 years of explanations. He then develops a new and far-reaching theory.
Download or read book Complex System Maintenance Handbook written by Khairy Ahmed Helmy Kobbacy and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2008-04-18 with total page 648 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This utterly comprehensive work is thought to be the first to integrate the literature on the physics of the failure of complex systems such as hospitals, banks and transport networks. It has chapters on particular aspects of maintenance written by internationally-renowned researchers and practitioners. This book will interest maintenance engineers and managers in industry as well as researchers and graduate students in maintenance, industrial engineering and applied mathematics.
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
Download or read book What Is a Complex System written by James Ladyman and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2020-08-05 with total page 182 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A clear, concise introduction to the quickly growing field of complexity science that explains its conceptual and mathematical foundations What is a complex system? Although "complexity science" is used to understand phenomena as diverse as the behavior of honeybees, the economic markets, the human brain, and the climate, there is no agreement about its foundations. In this introduction for students, academics, and general readers, philosopher of science James Ladyman and physicist Karoline Wiesner develop an account of complexity that brings the different concepts and mathematical measures applied to complex systems into a single framework. They introduce the different features of complex systems, discuss different conceptions of complexity, and develop their own account. They explain why complexity science is so important in today's world.
