![]() The middle part of the book deals with the phenomenology and application domains of complexity theory ranging from chemical kinetics to the epidemic propagation of infections and ideas. This made me take the treatment of other areas equally seriously. In areas that I am familiar with, I was impressed by the clarity and depth of this background material. These chapters are underpinned by some excellent tutorials in relevant basics in the physical and life-sciences (e.g., Hamiltonian dynamics, statistical thermodynamics, chaotic itinerancy and so on). There is lots of fascinating detail about the growth of the ideas considered in later chapters. They gather together names and concepts that one has come across before and place them in useful relationship to each other. I found these chapters very illuminating. The book is organised into ten chapters the first three deal with the history of complex systems and theory. In short, the book had great substance and made me smile a lot. However, the context in which this phrase was used (the resolution of unrequited love) made me think twice. ![]() Sometimes it is difficult to tell whether something has been lost or gained in translation, for example I had assumed that "out of ouch" meant "out of touch". There are several nice examples of the latter his preference for the term "player" over "agent" is not left implicit. Peter Erdi’s ethnic and intellectual roots show themselves through the balanced references to Eastern block and Western contributions, through his Hungarian anecdotes and metaphors, through his syntax and finally through his humour. The writing style is endearingly idiosyncratic disclosing the author’s Hungarian background. It stars from the historical fundaments of complexity theory and ends with cutting-edge research into things like evolutionary game theory. The book is organised in a clear and purposeful way as if it was based on a mature series of lectures. The book is written in an intuitive and accessible way although there are mathematical expositions, they are not intimidating for the non-mathematical reader. The book is clearly written by someone who delights in the challenges posed by complexity research and has spent a lot of time teaching in this area. This rounded approach works extremely well and highlights the connections between different formulations of complexity, both in terms of their application and historical development. It treats the reader with perspectives on complexity from nearly all possible angles. REVIEW – COMPLEXITY EXPLAINED BY PETER ERDIīy Karl Friston FRS, University College London
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