Why did the stock market crash more than 500 points on a single Monday in 1987? Why do ancient species often remain stable in the fossil record for millions of years and then suddenly disappear? In a world where nice guys often finish last, why do humans value trust and cooperation? At first glance these questions don't appear to have anything in common, but in fact every one of these statements refers to a complex system. The science of complexity studies how single elements, such as a species or a stock, spontaneously organize into complicated structures like ecosystems and economies; stars become galaxies, and snowflakes avalanches almost as if these systems were obeying a hidden yearning for order.

Drawing from diverse fields, scientific luminaries such as Nobel Laureates Murray Gell-Mann and Kenneth Arrow are studying complexity at a think tank called The Santa Fe Institute. The revolutionary new discoveries researchers have made there could change the face of every science from biology to cosmology to economics. M. Mitchell Waldrop's groundbreaking bestseller takes readers into the hearts and minds of these scientists to tell the story behind this scientific revolution as it unfolds.

This is a brilliant and riveting account of the birth of the science of Complexity at the Santa Fe Institute told in the form of detailed and human biographical profiles of some the leading scientific voices in the movement. Some reviewers here have complained that this isn't a book of science, per se, but more of history. While you will not find the math, code, detailed analysis of various models, or even illustrations of some of the compelling graphics; you will find well wrought descriptions of the basic theories and the evolution of thinking that delivered them. Getting the social and broader scientific context for the founders is a great introduction. Then you can read their books to get the nitty gritty, and you'll appreciate it better for having gained the long range perspective from Waldrop.

Complexity and emergence are some of the most compelling ideas to come out of the science of chaos - and are real paradigm changing ideas that promise to transform science in the 21st century and beyond. Complexity is the study of how agglomerations of agents behaving individually come to manifest dramatically complex group behaviors (called "emergent phenomena") with a richness you could never derive from the study of the simple components. Commonly studied emergent behaviors include the stock market, economies, flocks of birds and fish, the rise of life from pre-biotic molecular soup, the properties of complex molecules compared to the properties of their component atoms, etc... Methods of study are frequently computer simulations that model emergent complexity using simple rules in a recursive way reminiscent of chaos theory research. Indeed, Langton shows that emergent complexity is along the same continuum as chaos, but pitched at the edge between chaos and static order - literally the "edge of chaos". Some of the same scientists feature in both theories too - particularly Doyne Farmer of UCAL Santa Cruz.

The fact that informational order appears spontaneously seems to violate the 2nd law of thermodynamics - but does not because only information is being created, not energy. Kauffman calls it "order for free". This emergent order is deeply significant in a number of ways. First of all it provides a way of studying the structures of reality that are too messy and dynamic to fit classical reductionist science. But, more importantly, the reality of emergent complexity says something deeper about a creative generative force in the universe which resonates deeply with human spiritual feelings. Seeing order emerge spontaneously feels like witnessing "creation". In the latter chapters we see that evolution moves complex systems closer towards the edge of chaos (lambda around 1/4). Not only does this give a mathematical model for "evolutionary fitness" (which previously had been only definable as a tautology: evolutionary fitness = higher rates of survival (i.e. fitness)) but this also suggests a deeper concordance between a particular degree of chaos and some powerful natural property of phase transition that somehow engenders all the amazing dynamical systems we marvel at - particularly life itself on all its levels, from the swirling metabolic action of cells to the cellular group behavior of complex organisms such as ourselves, and our higher level social behavior. It's not an accident of evolution - it's an important, universal and inevitable law of nature, like gravity or electromagnetism.

Waldrop gets this and he takes you into Langton's computer lab the night he has his epiphany while playing the game of "Life" and other critical moments of inspiration. While this book doesn't spur you to take out your calculator and do the math like Gleik's "Chaos" it makes you feel the magic and gives you a heck of reading list to pursue further.

If you liked Gleick's Chaos, you'll love this book! Though it isn't a book directly concerning Complexity Theory, it definitely gives the reader a great understanding concerning the developments of Complexity Theory and its differences from Chaos Theory. It will definitely make you rethink even what you have just read.

Very disappointed in it. More form than substance. Author was too intent on patting CA schools on the back.

If you want to focus on complexity...then go to this book's index and start reading at the first page which mentions Kurt Godel.

As you proceed forward you will then find that this book spends progressively more time actually discussing the mathematical concepts underlying complexity or edge of chaos analysis and less time giving war stories about the founders of the Sante Fe Institute...which studied complexity.

Using this method you will learn about complexity theory which posits that simple algorithms can give rise to complicated outcomes.

Like a program to simulate a flock of birds in flight:

This book says that their flight can be similuated by the application of three simple coeffecients relating to maximum distance between birds, their common rate and distance of movement and finally a coeffecient directed to all birds to encourage them forward to being the center bird and leading the pack.

It doesn't take much creative thought to realize that the rules governing birds in flight must be similar to those governing genetic diversity and ultimately molecular diversity and creation itself.

In this way, ideas "merely" having to do with economics become VERY BIG indeed.

It's not surprising that this book was recommended by Richard Hofstadter (author of Godel Escher Bach) and likened to the (much better) Choas by James Glieck. The point is that the characters that this book introduces are very relevant to the discussions started by Hofstadter and so ably advanced by Glieck.

Read the book...or at least those pages following the first mention of Kurt Godel...and you'll see why.

I found the book disappointing. This is definitely NOT in the league of Chaos.

In particular, the coverage of the material of the subject, complexity, was very thin. Waldrop would bring up a subject, address it with some metaphor, and then move on without providing any details. The vast majority of the book is a series of stories about scientists at the Santa Fe Institute who had their inner-child hurt on their journey to discovering complexity. A better title for the book would have been "The Road to Santa Fe: A Tail of Grief."

The book had two redeeming features, the breadth of the material covered and the bibliography; both provide direction for more fruitful reading. Really, getting the feel for most of the subjects covered in this book could be found by putting 'complexity' into wikipedia and reading for a day, though.

Since it was not a complete waist of my time, I gave it 2 stars.