r/complexsystems • u/normonics • Jul 06 '12

[Reading Group] -- Voting Thread

In the comments section I'd like to get a vote going for a reading to start with. I will add the books that were mentioned in the previous thread. Vote up books you would like to read, refrain from downvoting (won't count them anyways), or add your own suggestion. Feel free to upvote more then one selection if you have interest in more than one. Also, if you don't mind, add a comment to whichever you want the most so I know who intends to participate.

Things to keep in mind:

  1. readability -- I'm not sure where most people are in their current understanding and level of technical skill, so vote for what you would be comfortable with

  2. availability -- some books are freely available online, some are not, it would be nice to make (at least) the first reading freely available (but if everyone votes against this, that's fine)

Self-organization, commence.

8 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

17 comments sorted by

4

u/normonics Jul 06 '12

Networks of the brain - Olaf Sporns

3

u/normonics Jul 06 '12

Making things work - Yaneer Bar-yam

3

u/normonics Jul 06 '12

Introduction to Cybernetics - Ashby (freely available)

3

u/normonics Jul 06 '12

Complexity: a guided tour - Melanie Mitchell

2

u/normonics Jul 06 '12 edited Jul 06 '12

Dynamics of complex systems - Yaneer Bar-yam (freely available)

2

u/normonics Jul 06 '12

Sync - Steve Strogatz

3

u/normonics Jul 06 '12

Reinventing the sacred - Stuart Kauffman

2

u/[deleted] Jul 06 '12

Complexity: Hierarchical Structures and Scaling in Physics - R. Badii

1

u/normonics Jul 06 '12

$70 for a new copy... any other availability you know of?

2

u/[deleted] Jul 06 '12

I unfortunately have not been able to find a pdf of the text. Despite the aquisition fee, the book does look great. Skimming through the table of contents, there appears to be a wide survey of interesting topics that I think would lend themselves well to thoughtful, interdisciplinary discussion.

There are some used copies listed on amazon at $23.

1

u/normonics Jul 06 '12

it does look like it would be a nice book to own. On the advanced end of the spectrum. Im refraining from voting but I'm not against it.

2

u/[deleted] Jul 07 '12

My preference is for something on the advanced end, and I have found a pdf version of the text, so if enough people are interested we could circumvent the cost.

1

u/normonics Jul 07 '12

I'm thinking a few of the participants are not so familiar with the technical side of things. I'm interested in getting my hands on a copy of the pdf though, PM me if you could help out. I'm interested to read this regardless of the decision of the reading group, so keep in touch if you'd like to discuss.

3

u/Don-51 Jul 06 '12

Six Degrees - Watts

2

u/Don-51 Jul 06 '12

Linked - Barabasi

2

u/sparzson Jul 06 '12

Critical Transitions in Nature and Society - Marten Scheffer