Complexity: A Guided Tour

As science probes the nature of life, society, and technology ever more closely, what it finds there is complexity. The sophisticated group behavior of social insects, the unexpected intricacies of the genome, the dynamics of population growth, and the self-organized structure of the World Wide Web – these are just a few examples of complex systems that still elude scientific understanding. Comprehending such systems seems to require a wholly new approach, one that re-maps long-standing disciplinary boundaries. Professor Mitchell presents examples that illustrate how the interdisciplinary field of complex systems science is discovering common principles underlying different natural and technological systems.Anyone outside NIST wishing to attend must be sponsored by a NIST employee and receive a visitor badge.

Image provided courtesy of M. Mitchell

For more information, contact Stephanie Shaw at 301-975-2667.

Colloquia are videotaped and available in the NIST Research Library.

Melanie Mitchell
Portland State University and Santa Fe Institute