Foundations of Complex-system Theories: In Economics, Evolutionary Biology, and Statistical Physics [Paperback]

Sunny Y. Auyang (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 28, 1999 | ISBN-10: 0521778263 | ISBN-13: 978-0521778268

Complex behavior can occur in any system made up of large numbers of interacting constituents, be they atoms in a solid, cells in a living organism, or consumers in a national economy. Analysis of this behavior often involves making important assumptions and approximations, the exact nature of which vary from subject to subject. Foundations of Complex-system Theories begins with a description of the general features of complexity and then examines a range of important concepts, such as theories of composite systems, collective phenomena, emergent properties, and stochastic processes. Each topic is discussed with reference to the fields of statistical physics, evolutionary biology, and economics, thereby highlighting recurrent themes in the study of complex systems. This detailed yet nontechnical book will appeal to anyone who wants to know more about complex systems and their behavior. It will also be of great interest to specialists studying complexity in the physical, biological, and social sciences.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...gives a refreshing and general look at methods for studying complex systems." Journal of Statistical Physics

"This is a marvelous book....Auyang repeatedly points out how a rigorous examination of the nature of human knowledge reveals a collection of highly competent parts, which appear to be beyond integration or perhaps even beyond consistency." Mathematical Reviews

Book Description

Foundations of Complex-system Theories analyzes, for the first time, the key concepts and general methods used in studying complexity in statistical physics, evolutionary biology, and economics. It highlights the features common to each area, and describes how we understand and deal with complexity.This detailed yet nontechnical book will appeal to anyone who wants to know more about complex systems and their behavior. It will also be of great interest to specialists studying complexity in the physical, biological, and social sciences.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 420 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press (August 28, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521778263
• ISBN-13: 978-0521778268
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 7.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,070,012 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Professional work, March 29, 2000

By 

Will McWhinney (Venice, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Foundations of Complex-system Theories: In Economics, Evolutionary Biology, and Statistical Physics (Paperback)

This is an amazing work. Sunny Auyang has written an easily comprehenedible book on applications of complexity theories to economics, biology and physics. It is a professional writing to professionals in different fields.One needs college level maths and some physics to fully grasp it but she has made minimum use of mathematical symbols. Her writing flows, the examples are clear, some illuminate important issues in the applied fields, some are just homey bits that convey an idea insightfully. A lot of depth in her philosophical explorations of the complexity ideas. I consider this to be a must for any person studying or instructing in system thinking.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 4.5 Stars-The whole is not the sum of the parts;Excellent and scholarly, February 14, 2006

By 

Michael Emmett Brady "mandmbrady" (Bellflower, California ,United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Foundations of Complex-system Theories: In Economics, Evolutionary Biology, and Statistical Physics (Paperback)

This is a very interesting book.The author demonstrates that she has command over a number of different fields.She exhibits a wide ranging scholarship in this book.In a nutshell,one can categorize the major conclusions she arrives at as the whole is not the sum of the parts alone.Neither a strictly micro or macro approach to the different fields she investigates,using a complex systems framework, yields the idealized types of scientific discovery and knowledge one finds postulated in some philosophy of science discourses that emphasize deductive closure laws.I have one slight criticism of the book,which is why I have subtracted one half a star.The author has a deep general understanding of the Keynes-Knight distinction between risk and uncertainty in economics(and in social sciences).However,she lacks an understanding of the specifics of Keynes's approach in the A Treatise on Probability(1921;TP).She is unaware of Keynes's interval estimate approach to probability,his index,w,used to measure the completeness of the evidence ,ranging from ignorance through partial knowledge to a complete information set,and Keynes's conventional coefficient of weight and risk,which treats risk, based on the purely deductive laws of probability, as a special case.This would be a very minor criticism if she had integrated the work of D.Ellsberg(Ellsberg's 2001 book,Risk,Ambiguity,and Decision gives a modern,improved and updated version of the TP) and B.Mandelbrot into her discussions involving economics,risk,and uncertainty(Ellsberg's Ambiguity with his rho and alpha indexes and the wild versus mild risk of the cauchy distribution versus normal distribution as discussed by Mandelbrot).Unfortunately,Ellsberg's contributions are not discussed at all while Mandelbrot receives a single footnote that completely ignores his contributions to economics.She can certainly obtain a 5-star rating by bringing out a revised edition in which the original,technical, pioneering work of Keynes is covered followed by the modern and updated contributions of Ellsberg and Mandelbrot.

2 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a fascinating book -- recommended to philosophers, October 25, 2002

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This review is from: Foundations of Complex-system Theories: In Economics, Evolutionary Biology, and Statistical Physics (Hardcover)

Philosophers of science need to read this book: the hands-on
account of how three sciences work is a healthy
corrective to the usual practice of writing philosophy of science
without actually knowing how the science is done.