A Crude Look at the Whole

PRAISE FOR A CRUDE LOOK AT THE WHOLE Miller's whirlwind tour is...well-grounded; he stresses complexity theory as an approach and a complementary way of thinking, not as a cure-all. --Slate Miller...provide[s] a thought-provoking introduction to the study of complexity. --Publishers Weekly Miller offers a vigorous survey of the tools, techniques, and ideas underlying complex systems and their study. --Kirkus Reviews From economic instability, to climate change, to the deep failure of our political process, most of the big challenges to society today are manifestations of complex systems, not tractable to analysis by traditional reductionist approaches. Miller's book is a fine introduction to complex systems thinking in the context of social systems. --Jim Rutt, past Chairman of the Santa Fe Institute and Director of the Proteus Foundation A Crude Look at the Whole is a delightful tour of the core principles of complex systems. You will see the world differently, and more clearly, after reading this erudite and wondrous romp. --Michael J. Mauboussin, Head of Global Financial Strategies, Credit Suisse Well-written, interesting, and stimulating. This book shows us how individual elements--bees, traders, neurons--interact to produce 'endless forms most beautiful.' John Miller makes complexity seem simple. --W. Brian Arthur, author of Complexity and the Economy and recipient of the Lagrange Prize in Complexity Science. The sciences of complexity crystalized about thirty years ago, partially at the Santa Fe Institute. John Miller was the first postdoctoral fellow at SFI. His A Crude Look at the Whole is a superb look . Miller's range is synoptic. More, the topics are essential for the world of today. Read this book. --Stuart Kauffman, Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, emeritus professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics at the University of Pennsylvania and author of At Home In the Universe With clear, elegant prose and captivating examples, John Miller reveals the core transcendent ideas from complexity theory that connect the biological, social, and physical worlds. Touching on topics as diverse as beehives, stock markets, mammalian heartbeats, infrastructure, and segregation, and weaving in findings from the cutting edge of scientific inquiry, Miller has written what is now the introduction to complex adaptive systems while also demonstrating the value of transdisciplinary science. A remarkable achievement. --Scott Page, Professor of Complex Systems, Political Science, and Economics at the University of Michigan, and author of The Difference