{"product_id":"at-home-in-the-universe-the-search-for-the-laws-of-self-organization-and-complexity-paperback","title":"At Home in the Universe: The Search for the Laws of Self-Organization and Complexity - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eStuart Kauffman\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA major scientific revolution has begun, a new paradigm that rivals Darwin's theory in importance. At its heart is the discovery of the order that lies deep within the most complex of systems, from the origin of life, to the workings of giant corporations, to the rise and fall of great\u003cbr\u003ecivilizations. And more than anyone else, this revolution is the work of one man, Stuart Kauffman, a MacArthur Fellow and visionary pioneer of the new science of complexity. Now, in \u003cem\u003eAt Home in the Universe\u003c\/em\u003e, Kauffman brilliantly weaves together the excitement of intellectual discovery and a fertile\u003cbr\u003emix of insights to give the general reader a fascinating look at this new science--and at the forces for order that lie at the edge of chaos.\u003cbr\u003e We all know of instances of spontaneous order in nature--an oil droplet in water forms a sphere, snowflakes have a six-fold symmetry. What we are only now discovering, Kauffman says, is that the range of spontaneous order is enormously greater than we had supposed. Indeed, self-organization is a\u003cbr\u003egreat undiscovered principle of nature. But how does this spontaneous order arise? Kauffman contends that complexity itself triggers self-organization, or what he calls \"order for free,\" that if enough different molecules pass a certain threshold of complexity, they begin to self-organize into a new\u003cbr\u003eentity--a living cell. Kauffman uses the analogy of a thousand buttons on a rug--join two buttons randomly with thread, then another two, and so on. At first, you have isolated pairs; later, small clusters; but suddenly at around the 500th repetition, a remarkable transformation occurs--much like\u003cbr\u003ethe phase transition when water abruptly turns to ice--and the buttons link up in one giant network. Likewise, life may have originated when the mix of different molecules in the primordial soup passed a certain level of complexity and self-organized into living entities (if so, then life is not a\u003cbr\u003ehighly improbable chance event, but almost inevitable). Kauffman uses the basic insight of \"order for free\" to illuminate a staggering range of phenomena. We see how a single-celled embryo can grow to a highly complex organism with over two hundred different cell types. We learn how the science of\u003cbr\u003ecomplexity extends Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection: that self-organization, selection, and chance are the engines of the biosphere. And we gain insights into biotechnology, the stunning magic of the new frontier of genetic engineering--generating trillions of novel molecules to\u003cbr\u003efind new drugs, vaccines, enzymes, biosensors, and more. Indeed, Kauffman shows that ecosystems, economic systems, and even cultural systems may all evolve according to similar general laws, that tissues and terra cotta evolve in similar ways. And finally, there is a profoundly spiritual element to\u003cbr\u003eKauffman's thought. If, as he argues, life were bound to arise, not as an incalculably improbable accident, but as an expected fulfillment of the natural order, then we truly are at home in the universe.\u003cbr\u003e Kauffman's earlier volume, \u003cem\u003eThe Origins of Order\u003c\/em\u003e, written for specialists, received lavish praise. Stephen Jay Gould called it \"a landmark and a classic.\" And Nobel Laureate Philip Anderson wrote that \"there are few people in this world who ever ask the right questions of science, and they are the\u003cbr\u003eones who affect its future most profoundly. Stuart Kauffman is one of these.\" In \u003cem\u003eAt Home in the Universe\u003c\/em\u003e, this visionary thinker takes you along as he explores new insights into the nature of life.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eStuart Kauffman\u003c\/strong\u003e is a member of the Santa Fe Institute. A MacArthur Fellowship recipient, he is the leading thinker on self-organization and the science of complexity as applied to biology.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 336\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.88 x 9.26 x 6.68 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eIllustrated:\u003c\/strong\u003e Yes\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e November 21, 1996\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51753921970464,"sku":"9780195111309","price":41.02,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0974\/9764\/5344\/files\/d6c820bf318f43e99237091a0ad9fa6a.webp?v=1780029621","url":"https:\/\/ebocreations.com\/products\/at-home-in-the-universe-the-search-for-the-laws-of-self-organization-and-complexity-paperback","provider":"The E-Book Oasis LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}