Ebook: Complex physical, biophysical and econophysical systems : proceedings of the 22nd Canberra International Physics Summer School, the Australian National University, Canberra, 8-19 December 2008

This book arose from a conference organized under the auspices of the Australian Research Council's Complex Open Systems Research Network (which has become the most prominent for complex systems in the world - just Google "complex systems network"), the ANU Centre for Complex Systems, and the Asia-Pacific Center for Theoretical Physics. The book is unique in the scope of its coverage of applications of complex systems science : Extraterrestrial - astrophysical, solar and space plasmas; Earth System - climate, ecosystems; Human systems - brain dynamics, social networks, financial statistics, advanced technologies. It also presents up-to-date discussions of new theoretical approaches, in particular those based on entropy and entropy production maximization, a field still under development but with much promise for providing a much-needed unifying principle for complex systems science. The authors are at the forefront of their fields, and organized their chapters to effectively bring out common features of complex systems. A comprehensive and common lexicon of keywords has been used to unify indexing, thus making the book an invaluable introduction to anyone seeking an overview of complex systems science.  Read more...