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This book provides a short, hands-on introduction to the science of complexity using simple computational models of natural complex systems – with models and exercises drawn from physics, chemistry, geology, and biology. By working through the models and engaging in additional computational explorations suggested at the end of each chapter, readers very quickly develop an understanding of how complex structures and behaviours can emerge in natural phenomena as diverse as avalanches, forest fires, earthquakes, chemical reactions, animal flocks, and epidemic diseases.
Natural Complexity provides the necessary topical background, complete source codes in Python, and detailed explanations for all computational models. Ideal for undergraduates, beginning graduate students, and researchers in the physical and natural sciences, this unique handbook requires no advanced mathematical knowledge or programming skills and is suitable for self-learners with a working knowledge of precalculus and high-school physics.
Self-contained and accessible, Natural Complexity enables readers to identify and quantify common underlying structural and dynamical patterns shared by the various systems and phenomena it examines, so that they can form their own answers to the questions of what natural complexity is and how it arises.
Preface xiii
1. Introduction: What Is Complexity? 1
2. Iterated Growth 23
3. Aggregation 53
4. Percolation 80
5. Sandpiles 106
6. Forest Fires 130
7. Traffic Jams 154
8. Earthquakes 174
9. Epidemics 198
10. Flocking 224
11. Pattern Formation 249
12. Epilogue 275
A. Basic Elements of the Python Programming Language 293
B. Probability Density Functions 308
C. Random Numbers and Walks 321
D. Lattice Computation 338
Index 351
Paul Charbonneau is professor of physics at the University of Montreal.
"This book is a clear introduction to experimentation with complex systems that will appeal to multiple audiences [...] It will serve as an example of pedagogical clarity and skill for anyone responsible for teaching the physical sciences."
– H. Van Dyke Parunak, Computing Reviews
"There is a certain enthusiasm distilled by the author all through the book, transporting the reader on a journey of discovery of a chosen set of complex systems, from where diverse insights into complexity science can be grasped [...] Natural Complexity constitutes an excellent introduction to some perspectives about complexity science that might be appealing to a broad range of readers."
– Miguel A. F. Sanjuan, Contemporary Physics
