Emergence as Harmony
Mathematical Principles of Self-Organization, Complexity, and Collective Behavior
$149.95
- Paperback
320 pages
- Release Date
13 October 2026
Summary
Emergent phenomena occur when complex systems exhibit properties and behaviors that their individual parts do not have. They are found across scales and fields, from the collective intelligence of bird flocks in biology to inequality and segregation patterns in economics and sociology. Are there unifying principles underlying these seemingly different examples? How do order and collective behavior emerge from chaos through self-organization?
Venkat Venkatasubramanian shows that a nove…
Book Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780231224581 |
|---|---|
| ISBN-10: | 0231224583 |
| Author: | Venkat Venkatasubramanian |
| Publisher: | Columbia University Press |
| Imprint: | Columbia University Press |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Number of Pages: | 320 |
| Release Date: | 13 October 2026 |
| Dimensions: | 152mm x 229mm |
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Critics Review
Emergence has long resisted unified explanation. In Emergence as Harmony, Venkatasubramanian delivers exactly that—a transdisciplinary mathematical framework spanning biology, economics, sociology, and AI. A rare synthesis: technically deep, conceptually original, and ultimately pointing toward something as elusive as harmony itself. – Julio Mario Ottino, author of The Nexus: Augmented Thinking for a Complex World
An extraordinary and inspiring work. Venkatasubramanian composes as a physicist-artist, orchestrating emergence as harmony across domains—from the universal microstructure of LLMs to income inequality. Channeling E. T. Jaynes, he generously shares a profound, fresh new movement for thinking about purpose and agency. – Darrell Velegol, Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering, Penn State University
Venkat Venkatasubramanian
Venkat Venkatasubramanian is the Samuel Ruben–Peter G. Viele Professor of Engineering at Columbia University. He is the author of How Much Inequality Is Fair? Mathematical Principles of a Moral, Optimal, and Stable Capitalist Society (Columbia, 2017). He is an elected member of the US National Academy of Engineering.
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