To kick off our discussions of Formalisms In Complexity, I thought
I'd add this to the mix.
-- Owen
Owen Densmore
http://backspaces.net - http://redfish.com - http://friam.org
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The Six Desert Island Books On Complexity (In no particular order)
This list began after several conversations on FRIAM about formalism,
and its lack, in Complexity. These prompted me to see just what
*was* available. These books all cover part of our Science with
sufficient formalism. I've not read all of any of them, they are
more like references for me, but they are focused on areas important
to be rigorous about within our Science, if it is to be one.
1 - Bar-Yam: Dynamics of Complex Systems
http://tinyurl.com/qumgf
I put this first because it stands in for a Complexity Textbook.
Surprisingly, there are no such texts that I've been able to find.
Bar-Yam does a great job of looking at the areas deemed complex in
the early 1990's when the book was written.
2 - Newman, Barabasi, Watts: The Structure and Dynamics of Networks
http://tinyurl.com/jh3u8
This is "the next best thing" to a textbook, a series of readings,
with a good introduction, in an area within complexity. There are
others books of readings, the SFI redbooks, for example. This is
particularly of interest to us due to the fast rise of graph theory
within modeling.
3 - MacKay: Information Theory, Inference, and Learning Algorithms
http://www.inference.phy.cam.ac.uk/mackay/
http://tinyurl.com/e5len
Robert Holmes led us to this delightful book when he led a couple of
WedTech meetings on the Monte Carlo techniques (Ch 29). This book is
not only exceptional for its breadth, but also for its author putting
the entire book online for free use! He also includes software
examples using open source tools and actively maintains errata on his
website.
4 - Gintis: Game Theory Evolving
http://tinyurl.com/ew3yr
Many of us use Agent Based Modeling for investigating problems. The
agents have behavior and evolve in time. This book is a bit wacky in
its approach, disdaining dogmatic and classical approaches, in order
to focus on the import of evolution within game theory. Its kinda
fun too.
5 - Strogatz: Nonlinear Dynamics and Chaos: With Applications
to Physics, Biology, Chemistry and Engineering
http://tinyurl.com/e8ldl
Strogatz may be the best teacher of technically difficult material in
the world! He's won important prizes in this area. This is a great
book for physicists who've always wondered why their profs gently led
them around the great gaping holes in their art.
6 - Devaney: An Introduction to Chaotic Dynamical Systems
http://tinyurl.com/z3l8r
Our sister science, Chaos, has made exquisite headway in formalizing
a difficult area. Were we so lucky! I have Chaos envy! There are
several books out there, but this is the most cited I think. I'd
also consider Davies, Exploring Chaos, for his short treatment and
inclusion of really excellent Java applets, and Williams, Chaos
Theory Tamed, for its very pragmatic, approachable and broad coverage.
On Jul 31, 2006, at 11:23 AM, Owen Densmore wrote:
> As you have likely noticed, we've had a few conversations on FRIAM
> discussing formalisms in complexity:
> [FRIAM] Definition of Complexity
> [FRIAM] Dynamics of Complex Systems by Yaneer Bar-Yam
> [FRIAM] Lyapunov Exponent
> [FRIAM] What have the Romans - sorry - complexity done for us?
>
> You are invited to come chat about all this in person at the WedTech
> meeting this Wed, Aug 2.
>
> Due to schedule madness, we'll meet at 1:30, later than usual. We'll
> not need the conference room, so we'll meet at Tesoro so we can lunch
> while chatting. Best to get there a bit earlier so you can order
> lunch/greet before we start.
>
> Feel free to think of an issue or stance taken in the email exchanges
> and expand upon the theme. Or come with something new! Devil's
> advocates welcome!
>
> Examples taken from the various emails:
> - Hubler's and Gell-Mann's Definitions.
> - Thermal Dynamic or Statistical Mechanic formalisms.
> - Dissipative Structures, Gradients and Work.
> - Few Textbooks covering the field.
> - What headway has been made in the last 10 years?
> - Define Self Organization and/or Emergence.
> - Measures: Reynolds number, Correlation Length, etc.
> - What's the rush -- its emerging itself!
> - It's not a science but an approach.
> - This is silly and you are all chasing your tails!
>
> -- Owen
>
> Owen Densmore
> http://backspaces.net - http://redfish.com - http://friam.org
>
>
>
> ============================================================
> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
> Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
> lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org
============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org
