Complexity: A Very Short Introduction

Abstract From the movement of flocks of birds to the Internet, environmental sustainability, and market regulation, the study and understanding of complex non-linear systems has become highly influential over the last thirty years. Complexity: A Very Short Introduction introduces the key elements and conceptual framework of complexity. From complex physical systems such as fluid flow and the difficulties of predicting weather, to complex adaptive systems such as the highly diverse and interdependent ecosystems of rainforests, it combines simple, well-known examples—Adam Smith’s pin factory, Charles Darwin’s comet orchid, and Herbert Simon’s “watchmaker”—with an account of the approaches, involving agents and urn models, taken by complexity theory.