Emergence: From Chaos To Order

by John H Holland

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780738201429
Publisher:	Basic Books
Publication date:	04/23/1999
Series:	Helix Bks.
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.25(h) x (d)

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 (also from Perseus Books).

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations

Preface

Chapter 1: Before We Proceed ..... 1

Chapter 2: Games and Numbers ..... 16

Chapter 3: Maps, Game Theory, and Computer-Based Modeling ..... 28

Chapter 4: Checkers ..... 53

Chapter 5: Neural Nets ..... 81

Chapter 6: Toward a General Setting ..... 115

Chapter 7: Constrained Generating Procedures ..... 125

Chapter 8: Samuel's Checkersplayer and Other Models as Cgp's ..... 143

Chapter 9: Variation ..... 161

Chapter 10: Levels of Description and Reduction ..... 188

Chapter 11: Metaphor and Innovation ..... 202

Chapter 12: Closing ..... 221

References ..... 249

Index ..... 252