| Abstract | [Introduction]
How is it that complex systems exhibit qualitatively coherent and very successful behavior? The paradigmatic instance of this problem is provided, of course, by biological systems, from the “simple” unicellular organisms up to and including the most complex social structures of humans and other species. This volume (a collection of papers from the NATO Advanced Research Institute held in Moretonhampstead, Devon, in 1981) contains a variety of insights into the vexing problem of complex systems, a problem of considerable interest to contemporary science. |