Self-Organization in Biological Systems

"One of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles for 2002 Winner of the 2001 Award for Best Professional/Scholarly Book in Biological Science, Association of American Publishers ""We suspect that the ideas associated with self-organization will play an increasingly prominent role in biology for some time to come... Self-Organization in Biological Systems presents a unique opportunity to watch a group of active researchers apply these intriguing concepts to formerly mystifying feats of social organization in animals. We know of no better guide for those who wish to understand how modeling can be used to dissect the mechanisms of self-organized biological systems.""--John W. Pepper and Guy Hoelzer, Science ""[An] exceptionally well organized and superbly illustrated volume.""--Choice ""An important contribution to biology, and to complex systems research more generally, and certainly an enthralling subject.""--Carl Anderson, Complexity ""This is a fascinating and thought-provoking book... The authors provide an excellent introduction to the main ideas underlying the theory of self-organization and also deal with some of the criticisms leveled at this emerging field... An eminently readable and stimulating book.""--Jens Krause and Iain Couzin, The Quarterly Review of Biology ""This book is an entertaining and well-written introduction to the basics of self-organization... Given the clear prose and interesting examples, this book should have wide appeal.""--Diane Lipscomb, Science Books & Film ""Considering the complexity of the subject, this account is surprisingly and pleasantly accessible and readable. It is one of the few biology books that will appeal equally to research workers and undergraduates.""--Bulletin of the British Ecological Society ""Broad in scope, thorough yet accessible, this book is a self-contained introduction to self-organization and complexity in biology--at the forefront of life sciences research.""--Zentralblatt MATH"