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OverviewThe rhythms of technology and nature are out of phase. This fact underlies the global environmental crisis. Man-made perturbations, even small local ones, can trigger large-scale effects. To reinstate an alliance between humans and nature, as described by Prigogine, the father of evolutionary physics, it is necessary to learn to observe the general behaviour and evolution of real systems, including human systems in their context. The theories of chaos and complexity can help us to understand these systems: all natural and man-made processes on our planet have a common matrix and are interconnected. Evolutionary physics is the study of the emergence of novelty from the complex fabric of relationships of which we are part. It explains the formation of living structures and their evolution in a dynamic world. Dissipative structures, steady state systems, self-organization, fluctuations and feedback are some of the concepts considered by the authors in their treatment of complex systems such as climate, society, economies and cities. The book is specifically concerned with cities.The aim of the authors is to promote a new operative approach to the study of urban systems through an integrated, systemic view of their components and relations with the outside. Evolutionary science opens new development prospects for cities in the framework of sustainability. Readers will find discussions on monitoring techniques, environmental accounting, sustainability indicators, ways of representing cities through systems language, measurement of flows and stocks, mobile geographies and dynamic mapping. The authors, an architect and a physical chemist, draw examples from literature, contemporary art, oscillating chemical reactions, architecture, invisible cities, imaginary characters, snowflakes and hurricanes. The book represents a meeting of science, technology, arts and philosophy, which it is hoped will produce something new. Full Product DetailsAuthor: Riccardo Pulselli , Enzo TiezziPublisher: WIT Press Imprint: WIT Press Volume: 19 ISBN: 9781845641337ISBN 10: 1845641337 Pages: 176 Publication Date: 30 January 2009 Audience: Professional and scholarly , Professional & Vocational Format: Hardback Publisher's Status: Out of Print Availability: Awaiting stock  Table of Contents1 Entropy and time: The city immersed in time; From a space to a time culture; Entropy and the arrow of time; Dissipative structures 2 Space and time: Idrisi; Energy guzzling, dissipative cities; Two speeds of technology and nature; A map of time 3 Order out of chaos: Oscillating reactions; How organization comes out of chaos; From cells to tropical storms; Climate 4 Reti: Suspended cities; The web of life; Return to the Aristotelian city; Regional systems and networks; Time is real and space is relative? 5 Flows and stocks: Lymph; A model of flows from source to sink; Withdrawal of resources; Scheme of a city 6 Good government: The effects of good government; Measuring flows: Odum's emergy; The energy hierarchy; The urban region; Cities and the geography of flows: the case of Siena; Another emergy landscape: the case of Cagliari 7 Mobile geographies: Eye traces; The invisible sphere; Organizational units; Urban landscape ecology; Telecommunications and mobile geographies; Study of a vast area: the case of Pescara and adjacent Adriatic coast; Study of a metropolitan area: the case of Milan; The art of cartography 8 Indeterminacy: Escher's stairs; The cube; Emergence of novelty; More flexible tools 9 Chaos and design: MAXXI; A new system of measurement for architecture; Conservation and restoration; Green architecture and town planning; Raw earth; Aesthetics of complexityReviewsAuthor Information"Riccardo Pulselli is an architect and a professor in the degree course in Technologies for monitoring and environmental restoration of the Faculty of Sciences at the University of Siena, Italy. Enzo Tiezzi is a full professor of Physical Chemistry at the University of Siena and author or co-author of five other books (The End of Time, The Essence of Time, Beauty and Science, Steps towards an evolutionary physics, and City out of Chaos) in the field of sustainability, as well as some 500 articles published in major scientific journals. A former Fulbright scholar, he was a member of the group of 25 scientists, who developed the concept of ""sustainable development"", first in Stockholm and Barcelona, then at the World Bank in Washington and, finally, at the ASPEN Institute in the United States. He is currently an editor of the International Journal of Design & Nature and Ecodynamics and chief editor of the WIT Press series The Sustainable World" Tab Content 6Author Website:Countries AvailableAll regions |
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