Books.org participates in affiliate programs including Bookshop.org and the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. We may earn a commission from qualifying purchases made through links on this page, at no additional cost to you.
Overview
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.
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"
Library Journal
Emergence, where simple systems generate complex ones, is a fundamental concept in many modern scientific theories. Phenomena as diverse as a game of checkers, neural networks, and even the origin of life are emergent. Holland, the developer of "genetic algorithms," demonstrates how mathematical models can represent the essential elements of emergent systems. Though the subject is arcane, Holland's emphasis on modeling appeals to readers' common sense, and he handles the mathematics very adeptly. Frequent recapitulation also helps. Most of the text focuses on the model-building process, with a few selected examples, and thus this book would be a good companion to others that are broader and more speculative, such as Murray Gell-Mann's The Quark and the Jaguar (LJ 4/15/94). For larger public and academic libraries.Gregg Sapp, Univ. of Miami Lib., Coral Gables, Fla.