Synopsis
A report on the order that lies at the heart of even the most complex systems--from the origins of life to the working of giant corporations to the rise and fall of great civilizations. In Kauffman's view, we are now discovering that the range of spontaneous order is much greater than we had supposed--that self-organization is the great undiscovered principle of nature. Kauffman contends that complexity itself triggers self-organization--that if enough molecules pass a certain threshold they begin to self-organize into a living cell. Kauffman develops this insights over an extraordinary range of fields, including the theory of evolution and biotechnology. He suggests that ecosystems, economic systems, and cultural systems may all evolve according to similar laws.
| Details | | Publication Date: | 1995-08-03 |
| Size | | Length: | 321 pages | | Height: | 9.5 in | | Width: | 6.3 in | | Thickness: | 1.0 in | | Weight: | 21.6 oz |
Publisher's Note
A major scientific revolution has begun, a new paradigm that rivals Darwin's theory in importance. At its heart is the discovery of the order that lies deep within the most complex of systems, from the origin of life, to the workings of giant corporations, to the rise and fall of great civilizations. And more than anyone else, this revolution is the work of one man, Stuart Kauffman, a MacArthur Fellow and visionary pioneer of the new science of complexity. Now, in At Home in the Universe, Kauffman brilliantly weaves together the excitement of intellectual discovery and a fertile mix of insights to give the general reader a fascinating look at this new science - and at the forces for order that lie at the edge of chaos.
Industry Reviews
"Kauffman has done more than anyone else to supply the key missing piece of the propensity for self-organization that can join the random and the deterministic forces of evolution into a satisfactory theory of life's order."
Book Jacket - Stephen Jay Gould
"...Kauffman is a pioneer of the new science of complexity, which sees in the world of nature an inner force of its own, not mystical but scientific. This insight touches something deep in each of us, as we yearn to understand the order we see in nature. Kauffman shares his discovery with us, with lucidity, wit, and cogent argument, and we see his vision."
Roger Lewin
"Stuart Kauffman gives us a rich and compelling picture of the new principles of self-organization in understanding the emergence of order in complex systems, whether life or society or the economy.The analysis is dramatic without sacrificing scientific accuracy and careful differentiation between what is known and what is surmised.The hints he has given on the development of the economy and especially of technology will undoubtedly be the basis of a major intellectual development."
Book Jacket - Kenneth J. Arrrow
"Offers a new and far-reaching theory of order in the universe, introduced by a pioneer in that theories development."
Arrrow
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