Preview
  • Complexity

  • The Emerging Science at the Edge of Order and Chaos
  • By: M. Mitchell Waldrop
  • Narrated by: Mikael Naramore
  • Length: 17 hrs and 8 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (294 ratings)

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Complexity

By: M. Mitchell Waldrop
Narrated by: Mikael Naramore
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $29.95

Buy for $29.95

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

“If you liked Chaos, you’ll love Complexity. Waldrop creates the most exciting intellectual adventure story of the year” (The Washington Post).

In a rarified world of scientific research, a revolution has been brewing. Its activists are not anarchists, but rather Nobel Laureates in physics and economics and pony-tailed graduates, mathematicians, and computer scientists from all over the world. They have formed an iconoclastic think-tank and their radical idea is to create a new science: complexity. They want to know how a primordial soup of simple molecules managed to turn itself into the first living cell--and what the origin of life some four billion years ago can tell us about the process of technological innovation today.

This book is their story--the story of how they have tried to forge what they like to call the science of the 21st century.

“Lucidly shows physicists, biologists, computer scientists and economists swapping metaphors and reveling in the sense that epochal discoveries are just around the corner...[Waldrop] has a special talent for relaying the exhilaration of moments of intellectual insight.” (The New York Times Book Review)

“Where I enjoyed the book was when it dove into the actual question of complexity, talking about complex systems in economics, biology, genetics, computer modeling, and so on. Snippets of rare beauty here and there almost took your breath away.” (Medium)

“[Waldrop] provides a good grounding of what may indeed be the first flowering of a new science.” (Publishers Weekly)

Cover design by Mauricio Díaz

©1995 M. Mitchell Waldrop (P)2020 Audible, Inc.
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

What listeners say about Complexity

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    193
  • 4 Stars
    50
  • 3 Stars
    22
  • 2 Stars
    14
  • 1 Stars
    15
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    191
  • 4 Stars
    42
  • 3 Stars
    10
  • 2 Stars
    5
  • 1 Stars
    5
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    163
  • 4 Stars
    50
  • 3 Stars
    18
  • 2 Stars
    10
  • 1 Stars
    11

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

awesome

Transpire the excitement of investigating into complexity. It's 2021 now, complexity science is more respectable. It is certainly enjoyable to know the development of the discipline. The writing is lucid and the narration lively, reveals the emotions behind the stories

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Amazing

As someone with degrees in math physics and computer science and an ex research fellow at the Santa Fe Institute I absolutely loved this book! The story, the way it was told everything about it was perfect! You never get to really hear a story about someone taking a long time to finish their PhD and still being an amazing scientist or the struggles for grants or how humane these people we idolize are! They are brilliant but books such as this one bring their genius closer to earth. This book inspired me in so many ways. What a joy!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

28 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

History of complexity

A great story of the start of the field of complexity. Gives a lot of other names and books to follow up on. Puts the AI of todat into perspective and let's you see where it comes from.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Worth the read

It’s been over 2 years and I still think about this book often. I didn’t expect to gain such a comprehensive understanding of biology and how closed systems starting with simple rules could expand into into much more complex emergent patterns. This book also highlights the importance of interdisciplinary research which I’m happy to see appears to be becoming more mainstream as more people realize that many subjects actually mesh together in interesting unexpected ways.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

History with a side of Science

While it covers the basic concepts, it's mostly just the story of the scientists that made up a specific field

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Very good

If you are interested in the story, it's very well told. Well written and well narrated.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

old but significant

great book about one of the most impactful fields of science in modern history. covers both ideas and the individuals behind them. fantastic.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Crouching Science, Hidden Biography

Looking at the reviews, I am not alone in expecting a book with this title to actually focus on the science. I started skipping through what I thought was an introductory mini-bio only to find that it was the entire book.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Great history (needs an update)

Very captivating history of complexity theory, but it stops at the year ~1990. It could use an epilogue to recap the last 30 years.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Inspiring

A great introduction to the subjects of complex systems and a great story of how the Santa Fe Institute came to be

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!