A few good books. Help a poor PhD student supplement his grant. ;-)
In alphabetical order by first author’s surname...
Per Bak
How Nature Works- amazon.com amazon.co.uk amazon.de
- Per Bak was the founding father of self-organized criticality (SOC), and in this book he talks about both the story of the discoveries, and the implications and ideas behind SOC. I’m biased, of course, but I found it an immensely fun and colourful read with a lot of great information — a fascinating trip through the physics of complex systems, from one of the pioneers in that field. I think it is valuable not just as an excellent introduction to a lot of marvellous science, but also as a very evocative picture of how science is actually done. Highly recommended.
Mark Buchanan
Ubiquity- amazon.com amazon.co.uk amazon.de
- Mark Buchanan’s book is more of a ‘pop science’ book than Per’s, but is also well worth reading: its different angle and very accessible text make it an excellent and insightful read into the wide range of different complex systems research.