1. What is complexity? Is it increasing? Charles H. Lineweaver, Paul C. W. Davies and Michael Ruse; 2. Directionality principles from cancer to cosmology Paul C. W. Davies; 3. A simple treatment of complexity: cosmological entropic boundary conditions on increasing complexity Charles H. Lineweaver; 4. Using complexity science to search for unity in the natural sciences Eric J. Chaisson; 5. On the spontaneous generation of complexity in the universe Seth Lloyd; 6. Emergent spatiotemporal complexity in field theory Marcelo Gleiser; 7. Life: the final frontier for complexity? Simon Conway Morris; 8. Evolution beyond Newton, Darwin, and entailing law: the origin of complexity in the evolving biosphere Stuart A. Kauffman; 9. Emergent order in processes: the interplay of complexity, robustness, correlation, and hierarchy in the biosphere D. Eric Smith; 10. The inferential evolution of biological complexity: forgetting nature by learning to nurture David C. Krakauer; 11. Information width: a way for the second law to increase complexity David Wolpert; 12. Wrestling with biological complexity: from Darwin to Dawkins Michael Ruse; 13. The role of generative entrenchment and robustness in the evolution of complexity William C. Wimsatt; 14. On the plurality of complexity-producing mechanisms Philip Clayton; Index.
Written by a wide range of experts, this work presents cosmological, biological and philosophical perspectives on complexity in our universe.
'The emergence of complex systems after the Big Bang, from a
Universe that started out in a very simple state, is one of the
great puzzles of science. This book provides the best single-volume
insight into the nature of this puzzle, and hints at its possible
resolution. It may be the answer to life, the Universe, and
everything.' John Gribbin, University of Sussex
'In physics, chemistry and biology, the topic of complexity is, in
a word, complicated. This collection is invaluable as an
introduction to the many intractable open questions this subject
raises, such as how best to define complexity, and how, why and if
it increases.' Jeremy Butterfield, University of Cambridge
'… fascinating lines of thought …' Daniel McShea, Science
'This work is essential reading for researchers in almost every
philosophy- or theory-based field. It exposes the universe as a
'quantum computer' from which meaning can be found only through
intradisciplinary and interdisciplinary thinking … Highly
recommended.' J. A. van Reenen, Choice
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