How has the universe created such complex structures as galaxies, planets, plants, animals and brains? Why does the economy work in unpredictable ways which cannot even be explained by economists? How can we account for such wonderfully intricate structures as the eye and kidney? This important and highly readable book shows how in all of these examples complex mechanisms are at work, in which numerous independent agents interact with each other creating spontaneous self-organization within the system, a special dynamism emerging of hte edge of chaos.

Complexity: The Emerging Science at the Edge of Order and Chaos

Science & Math

Waldrop, M. Mitchell

History & Philosophy

Penguin??Books

The Dream Machine: J.C.R. Licklider and the Revolution That Made Computing Personal

A study of the evolution of the modern computer profiles the work of MIT psychologist J. C. R. Licklider, whose visionary dream of a "human-computer symbiosis" transformed the course of modern science and led to the development of the personal computer. Reprint.

Computers & Technology

Computer Science

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.

Touchstone Books

A study of the evolution of the modern computer profiles the work of MIT psychologist J. C. R. Licklider, whose visionary dream of a "human-computer symbiosis" transformed the course of modern science and led to the development of the personal computer. 35,000 first printing.

Programming Languages

Viking Adult

A look at the rebellious thinkers who are challenging old ideas with their insights into the ways countless elements of complex systems interact to produce spontaneous order out of confusion

Simon&Schuster

Diane Pub Co.

Surveys current research in artificial intelligence, describes the difficulties of enabling computers to learn, understand, and reason, and examines ethical issues related to AI

Man-Made Minds: The Promise of Artificial Intelligence

Walker Co

After a history of the research, the author describes the future of artificial intelligence and the issues involved.

Walker&Company

"If you liked Chaos, you'll love Complexity. Waldrop creates the most exciting intellectual adventure story of the year" (The Washington Post). In a rarified world of scientific research, a revolution has been brewing. Its activists are not anarchists, but rather Nobel Laureates in physics and economics and pony-tailed graduates, mathematicians, and computer scientists from all over the world. They have formed an iconoclastic think-tank and their radical idea is to create a new science: complexity. They want to know how a primordial soup of simple molecules managed to turn itself into the first living cell--and what the origin of life some four billion years ago can tell us about the process of technological innovation today. This book is their story--the story of how they have tried to forge what they like to call the science of the 21st century. "Lucidly shows physicists, biologists, computer scientists and economists swapping metaphors and reveling in the sense that epochal discoveries are just around the corner...[Waldrop] has a special talent for relaying the exhilaration of moments of intellectual insight." (The New York Times Book Review) "Where I enjoyed the book was when it dove into the actual question of complexity, talking about complex systems in economics, biology, genetics, computer modeling, and so on. Snippets of rare beauty here and there almost took your breath away." (Medium) "[Waldrop] provides a good grounding of what may indeed be the first flowering of a new science." (Publishers Weekly)

History

Audible Studios on Brilliance Audio

Behind every great revolution is a vision and behind perhaps the greatest revolution of our time, personal computing, is the vision of J.C.R. Licklider. He did not design the first personal computers or write the software that ran on them, nor was he involved in the legendary early companies that brought them to the forefront of our everyday experience. He was instead a relentless visionary that saw the potential of the way individuals could interact with computers and software. At a time when computers were a short step removed from mechanical data processors, Licklider was writing treatises on "human-computer symbiosis", "computers as communication devices", and a now not-so-unfamiliar "Intergalactic Network." His ideas became so influential, his passion so contagious, that Waldrop called him "computing's Johnny Appleseed. In a simultaneously compelling personal narrative and comprehensive historical exposition, Waldrop tells the story of the man who not only instigated the work that led to the internet, but also shifted our understanding of what computers were and could be. Included in this edition are also the original texts of Licklider's three most influential writings: 'Man-computer symbiosis' (1960), which outlines the vision that inspired the personal computer revolution of the 1970s; his 'Intergalactic Network' memo (1963), which outlines the vision that inspired the internet; and "The computer as a communication device" (1968, co-authored with Robert Taylor), which amplifies his vision for what the network could become.

The Dream Machine

Biographies & Memoirs

Professionals & Academics

Stripe Press

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Waldrop, M. Mitchell. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Waldrop, M. Mitchell

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Waldrop, M. Mitchell. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Complexity: The Emerging Science at the Edge of Order and Chaos

The Dream Machine: J.C.R. Licklider and the Revolution That Made Computing Personal

Complexity: The Emerging Science at the Edge of Order and Chaos

The Dream Machine: J.C.R. Licklider and the Revolution That Made Computing Personal

Complexity: The Emerging Science at the Edge of Order and Chaos

Complexity: The Emerging Science at the Edge of Order and Chaos

Man-Made Minds: The Promise of Artificial Intelligence

Man-Made Minds: The Promise of Artificial Intelligence

Complexity: The Emerging Science at the Edge of Order and Chaos

The Dream Machine