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Complexity
- The Emerging Science at the Edge of Order and Chaos
- Narrated by: Mikael Naramore
- Length: 17 hrs and 8 mins
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Summary
“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)
Cover design by Mauricio Díaz
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What listeners say about Complexity
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- Neil Creamer
- 21-09-21
Changed my ideas about so many things
This was an excellent, accessible introduction to a fascinating subject. Since it mixed biography with a broad description of the ideas and aims of the key figures who developed this field it was possible to gain an understanding of the sort of problems they were trying to solve. What was particularly interesting was the way in which ideas coming from one field could be applied to another.
I don’t think I’ll ever look at the world the same again and just an appreciation of these ideas has given a different outlook on evolution, society and even the definition of life and how that impacts on the future of the human race.
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- steve
- 12-02-21
well read. functional problem playing this. . ..
well read. functional problem playing this. . Drops out 6 hours from the end. .subject matter could be better.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Bart Pander
- 04-02-21
Very much a biography of the Santa Fe institute.
it was fine to listen to but it was much more a biography of a group of interesting figures then to popular science book I expected.
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6 people found this helpful
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- MJ
- 25-11-20
Hooray for Santa Fe
Complexity at the edge of chaos, just about sums it up. Fascinating hearing about all the different people and ideas converging on the same insights.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Rebecca
- 24-12-21
Great insight into the origins of complexity
detailed however a great high level overview of principles in sfi. Also a clear view on the potential future directions of the teams
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- Emils Petracenoks
- 13-03-22
An inside view on a scientific breakthrough
The book is truly a pearl, it inspires research, it inspires perpetuation of intellectual pursuit.
Reading chapter 9 was scary. It's so actual for 2022 that it feels like this chapter was written not earlier than in the past decade, but it's 30 years old. It's embarrassing that this stuff is yet to be taught in schools. It's embarrassing that this stuff is falling on deaf ears of the politicians.
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- D. J. Wilkinson
- 14-07-22
Not what I expected
This is based on the 1990 book so now over 30 years old even though it has only recently been published on Audible. This is largely a historical review of the early work in complexity. If you are just trying to get to grips with complexity and what it means this is tedious.
The great courses book on complexity is what you need. That book is brilliant, accessible and gets to the heart of complexity. Not this!
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- Amazon Customer
- 14-09-20
interesting book
interesting insight into the early days of a field. would also suggest the book chaos if you enjoy this
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2 people found this helpful
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- Plamen
- 03-02-21
Absolutely wonderful!
A great overview of the history, origins and main players in the fascinating new science of complex adaptive systems.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Anna H.
- 15-09-21
1995 so quite old now given the topic.
Interesting look at the history of SF Institute from start to 1995 Inc. Theories about complexity.
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