Complexity：A Guided Tour

Whatenablesindividuallysimpleinsectslikeantstoactwithsuchprecisionandpurposeasagroup?Howdotrillionsofindividualneuronsproducesomethingasextraordinarilycomplexasconsciousness?Whatisitthatguidesself-organizingstructuresliketheimmunesystem，theWorldWideWeb，theglobaleconomy，andthehumangenome?Thesearejustafewofthefascinatingandelusivequestionsthatthescienceofcomplexityseekstoanswer.Inthisremarkablyaccessibleandcompanionablebook，leadingcomplexsystemsscientistMelanieMitchellprovidesanintimate，detailedtourofthesciencesofcomplexity，abroadsetofeffortsthatseektoexplainhowlarge-scalecomplex，organized，andadaptivebehaviorcanemergefromsimpleinteractionsamongmyriadindividuals.Comprehendingsuchsystemsrequiresawhollynewapproach，onethatgoesbeyondtraditionalscientificreductionismandthatre-mapslong-standingdisciplinaryboundaries.BasedonherworkattheSantaFeInstituteanddrawingonitsinterdisciplinarystrategies，Mitchellbringsclaritytotheworkingsofcomplexityacrossabroadrangeofbiological，technological，andsocialphenomena，seekingoutthegeneralprinciplesorlawsthatapplytoallofthem.Sheexploresaswelltherelationshipbetweencomplexityandevolution，artificialintelligence，computation，genetics，informationprocessing，andmanyotherfields.Richlyillustratedandvividlywritten，Complexity：AGuidedTouroffersacomprehensiveandeminentlycomprehensibleoverviewoftheideasunderlyingcomplexsystemsscience，thecurrentresearchattheforefrontofthisfield，andtheprospectsforthefield'scontributiontosolvingsomeofthemostimportantscientificquestionsofourtime.