RE: Books on Complexity

[Nick Thompson]

All,

I read Waldrop at the beginning of my infatuation and would read him again.

Tedious as he can be, sometimes, I thought the first 70 or so pages of
Wolfram were absolutely mindblowing.  I keep wanting to turn it into a
model of development.

Even though he is probably wrong in fact and perhaps even wrong in
principle,  I found Goodwin's Leopard's Spots an interesting MOdel.

The problem with complexity is that it is only mindblowing if you have
previously been totally hooked on linear models.  so it sort of requires
one to have been made stupid by some expertise or other before one can be
truly profit by being exposed to it.    

So the REAL BOOK on complexity should probably start with a rehearsal of
some of the wonders produced by careful linear thinking.  A couple of us
were talking about writing one, while I was out there.  I have have a few
books under my belt as a science popularizer of sorts and could help but am
not sufficiently detail oriented to pull it off by myself.  See note on
Bull shit, below.  

By the way, complexity, is the only field taht has blown life into the
distinction between linear and non-linear thinking, so far as I am
concerned.  In most people's mouths, the distinction refers mostly to the
difference between clear thinking and mindless obscurantist groupspeak.  

Or, as a recent article in the NY-ker put it: "Bullshit", i.e., speech from
a speaker .for whom the truth is not a salient concern.  

N

PS-- we in the Friam diaspora should insist on a report on the out come of
the ZoZobra project.  Come on, you guys.  If you expect us to be your
friends in dispair, you have also to let us in on your triumphs.  

Nicholas S. Thompson
Professor of Psychology and Ethology
Clark University
[hidden email]
http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/
 [hidden email]

> [Original Message]
> From: <[hidden email]>
> To: <[hidden email]>
> Date: 9/11/2005 10:00:12 AM
> Subject: Friam Digest, Vol 27, Issue 9
>
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> Today's Topics:
>
>    1. Reader2: social BOOKmarking (Charles Gieseler)
>    2. Intro Books for Bright People (Owen Densmore)
>    3. Sterling, Distraction (Owen Densmore)
>    4. Re: Intro Books for Bright People (Tom Carter)
>    5. Re: Intro Books for Bright People (Michael Agar)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Sat, 10 Sep 2005 12:09:57 -0600
> From: Charles Gieseler <[hidden email]>
> Subject: [FRIAM] Reader2: social BOOKmarking
> To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group
> <[hidden email]>
> Message-ID: <[hidden email]>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>
> Hi Everybody,
>
> I ran across something this week that might interest those who are fans
> of del.icio.us <http://del.icio.us> and avid readers. It's called
> Reader^2 (reader2.com <http://reader2.com>). It's a social book list
> service that does for books what del.icio.us does for bookmarks. From
> the site:
>
> This site allows you to
>     * Keep list of books you read and/or recommend
>     * Find new books to read in the categories of your interest
>     * Export your latest read books or recommended books to your site or
> blog
>     * Track after your friends reading lists (via RSS)
>
> I believe it is linked with Amazon's database which allows you to easily
> query information for books and add them to your list. When you add
> books you mark them in one of 8 different categories. You can also
> indicate whether you recommend, dislike, are reading, or want to read a
> particular books. Like bookmarks in del.icio.us, you can add custom tags
> to books on your list to aid in search and categorization. There are
> also various ways to search for books among all users. This looks like a
> useful tool to share and find books.
>
> They also have a sister site called MyProgs (myprogs.net
> <http://myprogs.net/>) which allows people to maintain social lists of
> the software they use. I haven't looked at it much yet, but it may be
> another place to find good open source software.
>
> Cheers,
>     Charlie Gieseler
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> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 2
> Date: Sat, 10 Sep 2005 20:07:23 -0600
> From: Owen Densmore <[hidden email]>
> Subject: [FRIAM] Intro Books for Bright People
> To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Friam <[hidden email]>
> Message-ID: <[hidden email]>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; delsp=yes; format=flowed
>
> Once again I've been asked by a very lively and bright person to  
> suggest readings on Complexity.  And I find it pretty hard to do.
>
> If the topic were Chaos instead, it'd be a snap: James Gleick's book  
> and one or another of the really great math books showing how to  
> quantify and manage chaos would be pretty clear choices.
>
> But complexity is all over the place.  Holland's books are not all  
> that gripping.  The Waldrop history of SFI is probably reasonable  
> although dated.  Stu's "At Home in the Universe" is wonderful for us  
> but a bit hard going for beginners, and not particularly general.  I  
> mean, how do you shove modern graph theory, local knowledge systems,  
> ABM, emergence, adaption, equilibrium, and so on into a couple of  
> books!?
>
> Stephen pointed out a great site of Cosma Shalizi's reviews:
>    http://cscs.umich.edu/~crshalizi/reviews/
> .. and particular on Complexity etc:
>    http://cscs.umich.edu/~crshalizi/reviews/subjects/self- 
> organization.html
> .. while discussing Philip Ball's The Self-Made Tapestry.  Cosma  
> would consider it a good starting point apparently.  And if you've  
> met him, that is great praise indeed!
>
> Any and all suggestions appreciated!
>
>      -- Owen
>
> Owen Densmore - http://backspaces.net - http://redfish.com - http://
> friam.org
>
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 3
> Date: Sat, 10 Sep 2005 20:09:24 -0600
> From: Owen Densmore <[hidden email]>
> Subject: [FRIAM] Sterling, Distraction
> To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Friam <[hidden email]>
> Message-ID: <[hidden email]>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; delsp=yes; format=flowed
>
> Carl introduced me to Bruce Sterling's great book Distraction a while  
> back.
>    http://cscs.umich.edu/~crshalizi/reviews/distraction/
> Holy cow, Cosma likes it!
>
>      -- Owen
>
> Owen Densmore - http://backspaces.net - http://redfish.com - http://
> friam.org
>
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 4
> Date: Sun, 11 Sep 2005 01:52:08 -0700
> From: Tom Carter <[hidden email]>
> Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Intro Books for Bright People
> To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group
> <[hidden email]>
> Message-ID: <[hidden email]>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; delsp=yes; format=flowed
>
> Owen -
>
>    Yeah, I just had to deal with this problem -- I ended up choosing  
> for my Nonlinear Systems and Chaos class:
>
>    Texts: The required texts for the class are:
>
>          Chaos: Making a New Science, James Gleick
>
>          Mathematics and the Unexpected, Ivar Ekeland
>
>          The Computational Beauty of Nature, Gary Flake
>
>    It will be interesting to see how it goes . . .
>
> tom
>
>
> On Sep 10, 2005, at 7:07 PM, Owen Densmore wrote:
>
> > Once again I've been asked by a very lively and bright person to  
> > suggest readings on Complexity.  And I find it pretty hard to do.
> >
> > If the topic were Chaos instead, it'd be a snap: James Gleick's  
> > book and one or another of the really great math books showing how  
> > to quantify and manage chaos would be pretty clear choices.
> >
> > But complexity is all over the place.  Holland's books are not all  
> > that gripping.  The Waldrop history of SFI is probably reasonable  
> > although dated.  Stu's "At Home in the Universe" is wonderful for  
> > us but a bit hard going for beginners, and not particularly  
> > general.  I mean, how do you shove modern graph theory, local  
> > knowledge systems, ABM, emergence, adaption, equilibrium, and so on  
> > into a couple of books!?
> >
> > Stephen pointed out a great site of Cosma Shalizi's reviews:
> >   http://cscs.umich.edu/~crshalizi/reviews/
> > .. and particular on Complexity etc:
> >   http://cscs.umich.edu/~crshalizi/reviews/subjects/self- 
> > organization.html
> > .. while discussing Philip Ball's The Self-Made Tapestry.  Cosma  
> > would consider it a good starting point apparently.  And if you've  
> > met him, that is great praise indeed!
> >
> > Any and all suggestions appreciated!
> >
> >     -- Owen
> >
> > Owen Densmore - http://backspaces.net - http://redfish.com - http://
> > friam.org
> >
> >
> >
> > ============================================================
> > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
> > Meets Fridays 9:30a-11:30 at ad hoc locations
> > Lecture schedule, archives, unsubscribe, etc.:
> > http://www.friam.org
> >
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 5
> Date: Sun, 11 Sep 2005 09:50:09 -0400
> From: "Michael Agar" <[hidden email]>
> Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Intro Books for Bright People
> To: <[hidden email]>
> Message-ID: <[hidden email]>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
>
> Yeah, same deal, I give intro complexity talks and keep experimenting
> with what to use.
>
> Few years back when Rob Axtell spoke to a group in DC he asked them to
> read an Atlantic Monthly article, Seeing Around Corners,
> http://www.brookings.edu/views/articles/rauch/20020401.pdf. Worked
> pretty well.
>
> I use that and will add the Sci American article, July 2005, by Kohler,
> Gummerman and Reynolds, Simulating Ancient Societies, on the Anasazi
> work, readable and interesting.
>
> I still like Waldrop's book, dated (but then so is Gleick and, at this
> point, so is complexity), because he's a good writer, weaves together
> ideas, people and institutions, shows what well known problems motivated
> complexity, and he leans towards the biosocial rather than the physics.
>
> Then there's many things available depending on the audience. For
> instance, for an ethno crowd Elizabeth Woods' book on the insurgency in
> El Salvador is good as is Steve Lansing's review article in the Annual
> Reviews of Anthro. For a health care crowd writings by people like
> Reuben McDaniels and Ben Crabtree are interesting.
>
> My next gig is an education crowd, so one thing I found are two chapters
> on that topic in Yaneer Bar-Yam's book Making Things Work.
>
> Lot of material out there to suit the background knowledge of a
> newcomer. Trick is to figure out why your audience is interested (or why
> you want to get them interested), then figure out where they are to
> locate their zone of proximal development, as Vygotsky called it, and
> then find the right material or right words to stretch their horizon and
> yours as well. Cross between teaching and intercultural communication.
>
> Mike
>
>
>
> >>> [hidden email] 09/10/05 10:07 PM >>>
> Once again I've been asked by a very lively and bright person to  
> suggest readings on Complexity.  And I find it pretty hard to do.
>
> If the topic were Chaos instead, it'd be a snap: James Gleick's book  
> and one or another of the really great math books showing how to  
> quantify and manage chaos would be pretty clear choices.
>
> But complexity is all over the place.  Holland's books are not all  
> that gripping.  The Waldrop history of SFI is probably reasonable  
> although dated.  Stu's "At Home in the Universe" is wonderful for us  
> but a bit hard going for beginners, and not particularly general.  I  
> mean, how do you shove modern graph theory, local knowledge systems,  
> ABM, emergence, adaption, equilibrium, and so on into a couple of  
> books!?
>
> Stephen pointed out a great site of Cosma Shalizi's reviews:
>    http://cscs.umich.edu/~crshalizi/reviews/
> .. and particular on Complexity etc:
>    http://cscs.umich.edu/~crshalizi/reviews/subjects/self- 
> organization.html
> .. while discussing Philip Ball's The Self-Made Tapestry.  Cosma  
> would consider it a good starting point apparently.  And if you've  
> met him, that is great praise indeed!
>
> Any and all suggestions appreciated!
>
>      -- Owen
>
> Owen Densmore - http://backspaces.net - http://redfish.com - http://
> friam.org
>
>
>
> ============================================================
> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
> Meets Fridays 9:30a-11:30 at ad hoc locations
> Lecture schedule, archives, unsubscribe, etc.:
> http://www.friam.org
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> _______________________________________________
> Friam mailing list
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> http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
>
>
> End of Friam Digest, Vol 27, Issue 9
> ************************************

[Roger Critchlow]

2005 Santa Fe Institute Summer Internship/Mentorship Program: Proposed
Reading List

Topics    

1.  Introduction to Complex Systems  

2.  Cognitive Neuroscience  

3.  Physical and Biological Systems  

4.  Economic and Social Interactions  

5.  Evolutionary Dynamics  

6.  Network Dynamics  

7.  Robustness  

References  

(4) Robert Axelrod, The Complexity of Cooperation: Agent-Based Models
of Competition and Cooperation, Princeton University Press, 1997,

(1,6). Alberto-Lazlo Barabasi, Linked: The New Science of Networks,
Perseus, 2002.

(1,3) Per Bak, How Nature Works: The Science of Self-Organized
Criticality, Springer-Verlag, 1996.

(1,3) Philip Ball, Critical Mass: How One Thing Leads to Another,
Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 2004.

(1, 3, 5) Philip Ball, The Self-Made Tapestry: Pattern Formation in
Nature, Oxford University Press, 1998.

(1) Yaneer Bar-Yam, Dynamics of Complex Systems, Addison-Wesley, 1997.  

(3, 5) Scott Camazine, et al. (eds.) Self Organization in Biological
Systems, Princeton University Press, 2001.

(3, 4, 6) Joshua Epstein and Robert Axtell, Growing Artificial
Societies, MIT Press, 1996.

(4) Joshua Epstein, et al., Modeling Civil Violence: An Agent Based
Computation Approach, Center on Social and Economic Dynamics, Working
Paper No. 20, January 2001

(3, 5, 6) Gary Flake, The Computational Beauty of Nature: Computer
Explorations of Fractals, Chaos, Complex Systems, and Adaptation, The
MIT Press, July 1998.

(3, 5) John Holland, Hidden Order: How Adaptation Builds Complexity,
Perseus, 1995.

(1) Steven Johnson, Emergence: The Connected Lives of Ants, Brains,
Cities and Software, Scribner, 2001.

(3, 5) Stuart Kaufman, Investigations, Oxford University Press, 2000.  

(3, 5) Christopher Langton, ed., Artificial Life, Volume 6, SFI
Studies in the Sciences of Complexity, Addison-Wesley, 1989.

(3, 7) Simon Levin, Fragile Dominion: Complexity and the Commons,
Perseus, 1999.

(4) Jonathan Rauch, Seeing Around Corners, The Atlantic Monthly, April 2002.  

(1) Mitchell Resnick, Turtles, Termites, and Traffic Jams, The MIT
Press, 1997.

(4) John Scott, Social Network Analysis: A Handbook, SAGE, 2000.  

(4) Thomas Schelling, Micromotives and Macrobehavior (Fels Lectures on
Public Policy Analysis), W. W. Norton, 1978.

(1) Mitchell Waldrop, Complexity, Touchstone, 1992.  

(4, 6) Duncan J. Watts, Six Degrees: The Science of the Connected Age,
W.W. Norton, 2003.

(3) Stephen Wolfram, A New Kind of Science, Wolfram Media. 2002.

[Michael Gizzi]

Hello all,

I have been lurking on the list since Tom Johnson suggested I join (sometime
this fall I hope to get down from Grand Junction, Colorado to attend one of
your Friday sessions), but I have been enjoying this thread!

I think Roger's list from the Summer Internship/Mentorship program is a good
one.

A few resources to look at:

1) In my college/high school class on complexity I have students read
Barabasi's LINKED, Johnson's EMERGENCE, and Stephen Levy's ARTIFICIAL LIFE,
which is very good, providing discussions of Wolfram 1D-CAs, The game of
life, Reynold's Boids, and GAs, among other topics. I also lecture from
Holland's HIDDEN ORDER, his book EMERGENCE (on modeling) and from Gladwell's
TIPPING POINT.

2) I think the intro to Axelrod's THE COMPLEXITY OF COOPERATION is excellent
as an introduction to agent-based modeling purposes. Axelrod's website
provides a PDF to a more recent version of the same article (Simulation for
the Social Scientist). He also links to a new web page he put together with
Leigh Testfasion on "On-Line Guide for Newcomers to Agent-Based Modeling in
the Social Sciences" - Axelrod's home page is at
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~axe/ 

3) This summer my colleague in Florida, Tom Lairson put together a nice list
of readings for faculty to introduce them to agent-based modeling in
anticipation of a summer workshop I led for them on NetLogo. The list is at
http://web.rollins.edu/~tlairson/complex/reading.html and has some good
stuff. An earlier version of the same list is on my website,
http://www.modelingcomplexity.net 

4) These are all good resources, but I agree that we still need the one
"killer app" so to speak, of a book which captures complexity for the
general reader, with enough depth to keep those of us who are hooked on it
satisfied, but not so filled with equations that the new-comer is not scared
off. Obviously, somebody needs to write such a book! Maybe, someday...

Just some thoughts...

Mike

===================
Michael C Gizzi, Ph.D.
Director, Institute for Modeling Complexity
and Associate Professor of Political Science
Mesa State College
Bishop Campus
2508 Blichman Avenue
Grand Junction, CO 81505
===================
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[Roger Critchlow]

On 9/11/05, Michael Gizzi <[hidden email]> wrote:

>  I think Roger's list from the Summer Internship/Mentorship program is a
> good one.  

Irene says that Atty Mullins put the list together, I just passed it on.

-- rec --