A great deal of the success of science has rested on its specific methods. One of which has been to start with the study of simple phenomena such as that of falling bodies, or to decompose systems into parts with well-defined properties simpler than those of the total system. In our time there is a growing awareness that in many cases of great practical or scientific interest, such as economics or the hu­ man brain, we have to deal with truly complex systems which cannot be decomposed into their parts without losing crucial properties of the total system. In addi­ tion, complex systems have many facets and can be looked at from many points of view. Whenever a complicated problem arises, some scientists or other people are ready to invent lots of beautiful words, or to quote Goethe "denn immer wo Begriffe feh­ len, dort stellt ein Wort zur rechten Zeit sich ein" ("whenever concepts are lack­ king, a word appears at the right time"). Quite often such a procedure gives not only the layman but also scientists working in fields different from that of the in­ ventor of these new words the impression that this problem has been solved, and I am occasionally shocked to see how influential this kind of "linguistics" has become.

Inhalt

Operational Approaches to Complex Systems. An Introduction.- I Evolution.- Effects of Finite Population Size and Other Stochastic Phenomena in Molecular Evolution..- II Functions of the Brain in Man and Animals.- Computation of Sensory Information by the Visual System of the Fly (From Behaviour to Neuronal Circuitry)..- Multi-Neuron Experiments: Observation of State in Neural Nets.- Investigation of a Small Volume of Neocortex with Multiple Microelectrodes: Evidence for Principles of Self-Organization..- New Light on the Mind-Brain Problem: How Mental Events Could Influence Neural Events..- Spin Glasses as Model Systems for Neural Networks.- Strange Attractors in the Dynamics of Brain Activity.- III Coordination of Motion.- Cooperative Phenomena in Biological Motion.- The Central Nervous System Utilizes a Simple Control Strategy to Generate the Synergy Used to Control Locomotion.- Control Strategies for Complex Movements Derived from Physical Systems Theory..- Parallel Processes in Oculomotor Control..- Dynamics and Cooperativity in the Organization of Cytoplasmic Structures and Flows..- IV Computers and Computing.- Parallel Processes and Parallel Algorithms.- Massively Parallel Multi-Computer Hardware=Software Structures for Learning..- Pattern Recognition Based on Holonic Information Dynamics: Towards Synergetic Computers..- Self-Organization of the Dynamical Channel.- V Theoretical Concepts.- Macroscopic Prediction..- Entropy-Like Potentials in Non-Equilibrium Systems with Coexisting Attractors..- VI Physical Systems; Order and Chaos.- Bifurcations in Particle Physics and in Crystal Growth.- Pattern Formation and Transients in the Convection Instability.- Convection in Spherical Geometries.- How Does Low Dimensional Chaos Arise in Complex Systems with Infinite Degrees of Freedom?.- Chaos and Turbulence in an Electron-Hole Plasma in Germanium.- Turbulent Motion. The Structure of Chaos..- Fully Developed Turbulence as a Complex Structure in Nonlinear Dynamics..- Cooperative Effects and Superradiance in Compton Scattering and Their Relevance to Free Electron Lasers.- Index of Contributors.