Overview

By now, most academics have heard something about the new science of complexity. In a manner reminiscent of Einstein and the last hundred years of physics, complexity science has captured the public imagination. ® One can go to Amazon. com and purchase books on complexification (Casti 1994), emergence (Holland 1998), small worlds (Barabási 2003), the web of life (Capra 1996), fuzzy thinking (Kosko 1993), global c- plexity (Urry 2003) and the business of long-tails (Anderson 2006). Even television has incorporated the topics of complexity science. Crime shows ® ® such as 24 or CSI typically feature investigators using the latest advances in computational modeling to “simulate scenarios” or “data mine” all p- sible suspects—all of which is done before the crime takes place. The ® World Wide Web is another example. A simple search on Google. Com using the phrase “complexity science” gets close to a million hits! C- plexity science is ubiquitous. What most scholars do not realize, however, is the remarkable role sociologists are playing in this new science. C- sider the following examples. 0. 1 Sociologists in Complexity Science The first example comes from the new science of networks (Barabási 2003). By now, most readers are familiar with the phenomena known as six-degrees of separation—the idea that, because most large networks are comprised of a significant number of non-random weak-ties, the nodes (e. g. , people, companies, etc.

Full Product Details

Author:   Brian Castellani ,  Frederic William Hafferty
Publisher:   Springer-Verlag Berlin and Heidelberg GmbH & Co. KG
Imprint:   Springer-Verlag Berlin and Heidelberg GmbH & Co. K
Edition:   Softcover reprint of hardcover 1st ed. 2009
Dimensions:   Width: 15.50cm , Height: 1.50cm , Length: 23.50cm
Weight:   0.462kg
ISBN:  

9783642100130

ISBN 10:   3642100139
Pages:   277
Publication Date:   22 October 2010
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

SACS Toolkit#x2014;Theoretical Framework.- SACS Toolkit#x2014;Assemblage.- Overview of SACS.- Environmental Forces.- Five Areas of Research.- The System of SACS.- SACS Today.- Conclusion.- Mapping Complexity.

Reviews

From the reviews: This ambitious book is an effort to provide a comprehensive overview of the research and people making up the rapidly expanding area ! 'Sociology and Complexity Science' (SACS). SACS refers broadly to the community of sociologists and like-minded scholars ! in social research. ! does a very nice job of tracing out the evolution of this field, and its antecedents in other areas of research. It may be best suited to someone ! interested in learning more about the area and its development. (Elizabeth Bruch, Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation, Vol. 13 (1), 2010)

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