Complexity in Chemistry, Biology, and Ecology

The contemporary scientific method is built on reductionism. The surprising finding that this paradigm has limits gave rise to the concept of complexity. This book presents the new science of complexity by presenting diverse concepts from the analyses of a wide range of real world systems (chemical, biochemical, biological, and ecological). Based on a variety of approaches ranging from cellular automata and dynamic evolutionary networks to topology and information theory, the book contains methodologies of practical importance for assessing systems complexity and network analysis in medicine and biology. §The techniques presented can be applied for comparative studies in proteomics and genomics, in the search for drugs and markers for early diagnostics, in clinical proteomics, in stability/fragility analysis of ecosystems, as well as for such analysis of fullerenes and other nanotechnology products. The volume combines original results of the authors, which are internationally recognized experts, with a broad coverage of this explosively developing area.§The book offers new concepts and ideas that broaden reader s perception of modern science. §Internationally established experts present the inspiring new science of complexity, which discovers new general laws covering wide range of science area§The book offers a broader view on complexity based on the expertise of the related areas of chemistry, biochemistry, biology, ecology, and physics. §Contains methodologies for assessing the complexity of systems that can be directly applied to proteomics and genomics, and network analysis in biology, medicine, and ecology.The book offers new concepts and ideas that broaden reader s perception of modern science. §Internationally established experts present the inspiring new science of complexity, which discovers new general laws covering wide range of science areas. §The book offers a broader view on complexity based on the expertise of the related areas of chemistry, biochemistry, biology, ecology, and physics. §Contains methodologies for assessing the complexity of systems that can be directly applied to proteomics and genomics, and network analysis in biology, medicine, and ecology.This book, written by an international team of experts, introduces the reader to various aspects of complexity theory and its applications. It illustrates the latest trends in science to go beyond the mechanistic Newtonian view of the world by shifting the focus to self-organization, adaptation, and emergent phenomena. The authors discuss these properties of complex systems in biology, ecology and chemistry along with the structure and interconnectedness of the "layers" of complexity. The qualitative description is complemented by a discussion of methods for complexity quantification. Networks are covered in detail as a universal language of the complex world.§General readers, as well as undergraduate and graduate students and researchers in life sciences, chemistry, and nanotechnology will find this book to be of great interest.