Synopses & Reviews
In this important book, John H. Holland dramatically shows us that the "emergence" of order from disorder has much to teach us about life, mind and organizations. Creative activities in both the arts and the sciences depend upon an ability to model the world. The most creative of those models exhibits emergent properties, so that "what comes out is more than what goes in." From the ingenious checkers-playing computer that started beating its creator in game after game, to the emotive creations of the poet, Emergence shows that Holland's theory successfully predicts many complex behaviors in art and science.
Review
"He's the man who taught computers how to have sex. And now, for an encore, he's working on a theory to explain the complexity of life and its myriad manifestations on planet earth." The New York Times
Review
"Drawing on examples from subjects as diverse as board games, neuroscience, physics, music, literature, ecology, and evolutionary biology, Holland outlines the unifying features of human intellectual exploration." Marcus W. Feldman, Professor of Biological Sciences, Stanford University
Review
"Emergence is an ambitious work by a writer who is an acknowledged leader
in scientific thought." Norman C. Licht, Science Books and Films
Synopsis
From one of today's most innovative thinkers comes the first book to
carefully explore emergence a surprisingly simple notion (the whole is
more than the sum of its parts) with enormous implications for science,
business, and the arts. Taking the reader on a marvelous scientific adventure,
John Holland illuminates humankind's efforts to comprehend life and consciousness. Emergence is science at the cutting edge a visionary book with important ramifications for every aspect of human intellectual endeavor.
Synopsis
"In this important book, John H. Holland dramatically shows us that the emergence” of order from disorder has much to teach us about life, mind and organizations. Creative activities in both the arts"
About the Author
John H. Holland holds joint appointments in the Electrical Engineering and Psychology Departments of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He is known worldwide as the "father of genetic algorithms" and as one of the deans of "complexity studies" at the Santa Fe Institute. He is the author of the groundbreaking book Hidden Order: How Adaptation Builds Complexity.