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Title: Emergence: The Connected Lives of Ants, Brains, Cities, and Software by Steven Johnson ISBN: 0-684-86876-8 Publisher: Scribner Pub. Date: 10 September, 2002 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.34 (61 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Lightweight introduction to the ideas of emergence
Comment: In this book, Johnson does a very good job of conveying the ideas of emergence in a simple, understandable way. For people that are just looking to get an idea of what the field is about, this book will provide the answers in an accessible manner.
The book beings with a compelling look at the way ant colonies function and uses this as a foundation for the ideas of emergence. Along the way he looks at several examples of emergence, including cities and software. He also touches on (or alludes to) current research areas such as genetic algorithms and pattern recognitition.
As someone who studied computer science I felt the book was a bit too light and missed some great opportunities to dig, at least a bit, into greater detail. However, I think many people will find this an approachable, enjoyable read.
Rating: 3
Summary: Acceptable Introduction
Comment: Those looking for an easy to understand introduction to the concept of emergence will find what they are looking for in this book. The examples of how; ant colonies, cities, software, and perhaps even the human embryonic cell use 'bottoms-up' intelligence to create higher order results, are clearly explained and easy to understand. Even the most uneducated lay person will have little trouble following the logic. The writing style is conversational and moves along easily. Overall, a pretty decent beginning to this subject for the wholly uninitiated.
Potential readers should be aware of some other points as well, though. 1.The author seems to make large leaps of logic to reach the conclusions that he seeks, sometimes using perhaps deceitful tactics (ex. in the beginning of the book a picture of the human brain is shown next to the city of Hamburg, which happens to have a similiar shape - the reader gets the feeling that the author wants us to believe this is so due to emergence, rather than chance, never mind that most cities do not resemble a human brain) 2.While the examples in the book are clear and do a lot to help the reader understand emergence, the author keeps repeating them over and over again. Really, the book could have been half it's length and held the same content. 3.There is a lack of more in-depth material in the second half of this book. It would have been nice if the author could have built upon his good beginning by covering more ground. One wonders if he didn't think his readers too stupid to handle it.
Still, overall, an acceptable introduction. Some may find it an interesting curiosity and enjoy it on that basis. Those looking for more information, or who already know anything about emergence should get a different book.
Rating: 4
Summary: Making scientific mountains out of ant hills.
Comment: "Call it swarm logic" (p. 74). In his fascinating examination of slime molds, ant colonies, cells, cities, and computer software, Steven Johnson (MIND WIDE OPEN) introduces his reader to the cutting-edge theory of emergence in his 2001 book. He simplifies this complex field of research initiated in the mideighties (p. 85) through example and analogy. Examining ants, for example, Johnson demontrates how these unintelligent insects, "which dominate the planet in a way that makes human populations look like an evolutionary afterthought" (p. 73), organize into complex colonies that adapt in size and behavior to their environment as a single entity, thereby exhibiting a spontaneous and collective intelligence. Johnson then reveals that what connects ant colonies with slime mold, computer games, other living ecologies, the guild system of twelfth-century Florence, cell divisions, and software "is a recurring pattern and shape: a network of self-organization, of disparate agents that unwittingly create a higher-level order" (p. 21). "Just like the clock maker metaphors of the Enlightenment, or the dialectical logic of the nineteenth century," Johnson writes, "the emergent worldview belongs to this moment in time" (p. 56). Although this book may lack depth and detail at times, it is nevertheless an excellent starting point for readers (like me) interested in exploring this revolutionary scientific theory.
G. Merritt
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Title: Linked: How Everything Is Connected to Everything Else and What It Means by Albert-Laszlo Barabasi, Albert-Laszlo Barbasi ISBN: 0452284392 Publisher: Plume Pub. Date: 29 April, 2003 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution by Howard Rheingold ISBN: 0738206083 Publisher: Perseus Publishing Pub. Date: 15 October, 2002 List Price(USD): $26.00 |
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Title: Sync: The Emerging Science of Spontaneous Order by Steven Strogatz ISBN: 0786868449 Publisher: Hyperion Press Pub. Date: 05 March, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: Mind Wide Open: Your Brain and the Neuroscience of Everyday Life by Steven Johnson ISBN: 0743241657 Publisher: Scribner Pub. Date: 10 February, 2004 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
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Title: Nexus: Small Worlds and the Groundbreaking Science of Networks by Mark Buchanan ISBN: 0393041530 Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company Pub. Date: May, 2002 List Price(USD): $25.95 |
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