Why are the instruction manuals for cell phones incomprehensible?
Why is a truck driver's job as hard as a CEO's?
How can 10 percent of every medical dollar cure 90 percent of the world's disease?
Why do bad teams win so many games? Complexity, as any scientist will tell you, is a slippery idea. Things that seem complicated can be astoundingly simple; things that seem simple can be dizzyingly complex. A houseplant may be more intricate than a manufacturing plant. A colony of garden ants may be more complicated than a community of people. A sentence may be richer than a book, a couplet more complicated than a song. These and other paradoxes are driving a whole new science--simplexity--that is redefining how we look at the world and using that new view to improve our lives in fields as diverse as economics, biology, cosmology, chemistry, psychology, politics, child development, the arts, and more. Seen through the lens of this surprising new science, the world becomes a delicate place filled with predictable patterns--patterns we often fail to see as we're time and again fooled by our instincts, by our fear, by the size of things, and even by their beauty. In Simplexity, Time senior writer Jeffrey Kluger shows how a drinking straw can save thousands of lives; how a million cars can be on the streets but just a few hundred of them can lead to gridlock; how investors behave like atoms; how arithmetic governs abstract art and physics drives jazz; why swatting a TV indeed makes it work better. As simplexity moves from the research lab into popular consciousness it will challenge our models for modern living. Jeffrey Kluger adeptly translates newly evolving theory into a delightful theory of everything that will have you rethinking the rules of business, family, art--your world.

Computing Reality is a rare and challenging research output in the area of cybernetic and system theory explaining the meaning behind the understanding, interpretation and application of scientific methodology for knowing scientific truth. The fundamental goal of Computing Reality is to explain how knowledge in scientific investigation can be derived, organized and deciphered in the light of unity of knowledge as the episteme. The book uses these foundational socio-scientific ideas in areas of philosophy of science, economics, society and science and computer modeling to explain specific socio-scientific problems in the light of the foundational conceptions and their application. Computing Reality invites the reader into understanding a fresh new look at the nature of relations between reasoning, science, and society. Special reference is given to certain fundamental issues of economics and world-system in the context of liberalism, globalization and Islam. The technical along with a generalist treatment in the book presents a comprehensive originality of a phenomenological model whose origin lies in a systemic and cybernetic view of unity of knowledge.Some of the new ideas presented here can be of a substantively provocative nature to the serious student, academic and researcher in philosophy of science. The book is nonetheless written for the generalist informed reader as well, enabling the interface with today's increasing consciousness on the relationship between religion, morality, ethics, science and society. The book may be considered as a pioneering contributing to post-modernist criticism of foundational questions of science and society. Computing Reality is a contribution inthe area of system and cybernetic theory examined from the perspective of science and society interrelationship. It goes beyond the modern contributions in this area by proving with conceptual and applied depth the function nature of the phenomenological model of unity of knowledge qua religion, science and society. Masadul A. Choudhury Ph.D., is presently Professor of Economics in the Department of Economics and Finance, College of Commerce and Economics, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman; and International Chair of the Postgraduate Program in Islamic Economics and Finance, Trisakti University Jakarta, Indonesia M.Shahadat Hossain, Ph.D. is Associate Professor and Chairman of Computer Science in the Department of Computer Science, Chittagong University, Bangladesh.

This monograph is a technical survey of concepts and techniques for describing and analyzing large-scale time-series data streams. Some topics covered are algorithms for query by humming, gamma-ray burst detection, pairs trading, and density detection. Included are self-contained descriptions of wavelets, fast Fourier transforms, and sketches as they apply to time-series analysis. Detailed applications are built on a solid scientific basis.

This is the first full-length study about the British artist Roy Ascott, one of the first cybernetic artists, with a career spanning seven decades to date. The book focuses on his early career, exploring the evolution of his early interests in communication in the context of the rich overlaps between art, science and engineering in Britain during the 1950s and 1960s. The first part of the book looks at Ascott's training and early work. The second park looks solely at Groundcourse, Ascott's extraordinary pedagogical model for visual arts and cybernetics which used an integrative and systems-based model, drawing in behaviourism, analogue machines, performance and games. Using hitherto unpublished photographs and documents, this book will establish a more prominent place for cybernetics in post-war British art.

With the advent of the National Curriculum, computer based modelling CBM is now a compulsory part of the school curriculum. Teachers are increasingly being encouraged to seek out opportunities for CBM in their own subject and across the curriculum. The new demands on the curriculum have left eachers and teacher trainers concerned as to their lack of experience in the area. This book sets out to provide a comprehensive guide to the area through an examination of a number of funded projects on CBM and their application to the school curriculum, setting them in the context of wider theoretical and practical concerns. It is acknowledged that computers bring about change in the classroom, both in teachers' professional development and innovative practices in teaching and learning. In highlighting how CBM can aid in the effective delivery of the curriculum, this book should be essential reading for teachers and researchers in the field.

As the title of the book suggests, the topics of this book are organized into two parts. The first part points out the fuzzy differential equations and the second one is related to the fuzzy integral equations. The book contains nine chapters that six chapters are about fuzzy differential equations and three of them are about fuzzy integral equations. In each part, the chapters' authors are going to discuss the topics theoretically and numerically. All researchers and students in the field of mathematical, computer, and also engineering sciences can benefit from the subjects of the book.

How can we interpret cyberspace? What is the place of the embodied human agent in the virtual world? This innovative collection explores the emerging arena of cyberspace and the challenges it presents for the social and cultural forms of the human body. Cyberspace/Cyberbodies/Cyberpunk shows how changing relationships between body and technology offer new arenas for cultural representations. At the same time, the contributors consider the realities of human embodiment and the limits of virtual worlds. Topics examined include technological body modifications, replacements and prosthetics, bodies in cyberspace, virtual environments and cyborg culture, cultural representations of technological embodiment in visual and literary productions, and cyberpunk science fiction as a prefigurative social and cultural theory. Academics and students in cultural studies, popular culture, communication, sociology of culture, philosophy will appreciate this intriguing volume, as will general readers with an interest in the Internet.

These Proceedings offer a selection of peer-reviewed research and survey papers by some of the foremost international researchers in the fields of finance, energy, stochastics and risk, who present their latest findings on topical problems. The papers cover the areas of stochastic modeling in energy and financial markets; risk management with environmental factors from a stochastic control perspective; and valuation and hedging of derivatives in markets dominated by renewables, all of which further develop the theory of stochastic analysis and mathematical finance. The papers were presented at the first conference on "Stochastics of Environmental and Financial Economics (SEFE)", being part of the activity in the SEFE research group of the Centre of Advanced Study (CAS) at the Academy of Sciences in Oslo, Norway during the 2014/2015 academic year.

This open access book presents a comprehensive survey of modern operator techniques for boundary value problems and spectral theory, employing abstract boundary mappings and Weyl functions. It includes self-contained treatments of the extension theory of symmetric operators and relations, spectral characterizations of selfadjoint operators in terms of the analytic properties of Weyl functions, form methods for semibounded operators, and functional analytic models for reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces. Further, it illustrates these abstract methods for various applications, including Sturm-Liouville operators, canonical systems of differential equations, and multidimensional Schroedinger operators, where the abstract Weyl function appears as either the classical Titchmarsh-Weyl coefficient or the Dirichlet-to-Neumann map. The book is a valuable reference text for researchers in the areas of differential equations, functional analysis, mathematical physics, and system theory. Moreover, thanks to its detailed exposition of the theory, it is also accessible and useful for advanced students and researchers in other branches of natural sciences and engineering.

This book presents the various design methods of a state-feedback control law and of an observer. The considered systems are of continuous-time and of discrete-time nature, monovariable or multivariable, the last ones being of main consideration. Three different approaches are described: * Linear design methods, with an emphasis on decoupling strategies, and a general formula for multivariable controller or observer design; * Quadratic optimization methods: Linear Quadratic Control (LQC), optimal Kalman filtering, Linear Quadratic Gaussian (LQG) control; * Linear matrix inequalities (LMIs) to solve linear and quadratic problems. The duality between control and observation is taken to advantage and extended up to the mathematical domain. A large number of exercises, all given with their detailed solutions, mostly obtained with MATLAB, reinforce and exemplify the practical orientation of this book. The programs, created by the author for their solving, are available on the Internet sites of Springer and of MathWorks for downloading. This book is targeted at students of Engineering Schools or Universities, at the Master's level, at engineers desiring to design and implement innovative control methods, and at researchers.

This book provides a broad overview of state-of-the-art research at the intersection of the Koopman operator theory and control theory. It also reviews novel theoretical results obtained and efficient numerical methods developed within the framework of Koopman operator theory. The contributions discuss the latest findings and techniques in several areas of control theory, including model predictive control, optimal control, observer design, systems identification and structural analysis of controlled systems, addressing both theoretical and numerical aspects and presenting open research directions, as well as detailed numerical schemes and data-driven methods. Each contribution addresses a specific problem. After a brief introduction of the Koopman operator framework, including basic notions and definitions, the book explores numerical methods, such as the dynamic mode decomposition (DMD) algorithm and Arnoldi-based methods, which are used to represent the operator in a finite-dimensional basis and to compute its spectral properties from data. The main body of the book is divided into three parts: theoretical results and numerical techniques for observer design, synthesis analysis, stability analysis, parameter estimation, and identification; data-driven techniques based on DMD, which extract the spectral properties of the Koopman operator from data for the structural analysis of controlled systems; and Koopman operator techniques with specific applications in systems and control, which range from heat transfer analysis to robot control. A useful reference resource on the Koopman operator theory for control theorists and practitioners, the book is also of interest to graduate students, researchers, and engineers looking for an introduction to a novel and comprehensive approach to systems and control, from pure theory to data-driven methods.

Systems Thinking, Critical Realism and Philosophy: A Confluence of Ideas seeks to re-address the whole question of philosophy and systems thinking for the twenty first century and provide a new work that would be of value to both systems and philosophy. This is a highly opportune time when different fields - critical realism, philosophy of science and systems thinking - are all developing around the same set of concepts and yet not realizing it. This book will be of interest to the academic systems community worldwide and due to it's interdisciplinary coverage, it will also be of relevance to a wide range of scholars in other disciplines, particularly philosophy but also operational research, information systems, and sociology.

Friction-Induced Vibration in Lead Screw Drives covers the dynamics of lead screw drives with an emphasis on the role of friction. Friction-induced vibration in lead screws can be the cause of unacceptably high levels of audible noise as well as loss of operation accuracy and shortened life. Although lead screw drives have a long history and their mechanical design and manufacturing aspects are very well understood, the role of friction in their dynamical behavior has not been comprehensively treated. The book draws on the vast body of work on the subject of dynamical systems with friction (such as disk brake systems) and offers said treatment, along with: * Unique coverage of modeling of multi-DOF lead screw systems with friction * Detailed analysis of negative damping, mode coupling, and kinematic constraint instability mechanisms in lead screws drives * A practical parameter identification approach for the velocity dependent coefficient of friction in lead screw drives Friction-Induced Vibration in Lead Screw Drives serves as the definitive text on the friction-induced vibration of lead screws, and includes a practical case study where the developed methods are used to study the excessive noise problem of a lead screw drive system and to put forward design modifications that eliminate the friction-induced vibrations.

This volume chronicles the 16th Annual Conference on System Engineering Research (CSER) held on May 8-9, 2018 at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA. The CSER offers researchers in academia, industry, and government a common forum to present, discuss, and influence systems engineering research. It provides access to forward-looking research from across the globe, by renowned academicians as well as perspectives from senior industry and government representatives. Co-founded by the University of Southern California and Stevens Institute of Technology in 2003, CSER has become the preeminent event for researchers in systems engineering across the globe. Topics include though are not limited to the following: Systems in context: * Formative methods: requirements * Integration, deployment, assurance * Human Factors * Safety and Security Decisions/ Control & Design; Systems Modeling: * Optimization, Multiple Objectives, Synthesis * Risk and resiliency * Collaborative autonomy * Coordination and distributed decision-making Prediction: * Prescriptive modeling; state estimation * Stochastic approximation, stochastic optimization and control Integrative Data engineering: * Sensor Management * Design of Experiments

This contributed volume offers a collection of papers presented at the 2018 Network Games, Control, and Optimization conference (NETGCOOP), held at the New York University Tandon School of Engineering in New York City, November 14-16, 2018. These papers highlight the increasing importance of network control and optimization in many networking application domains, such as mobile and fixed access networks, computer networks, social networks, transportation networks, and, more recently, electricity grids and biological networks. Covering a wide variety of both theoretical and applied topics in the areas listed above, the authors explore several conceptual and algorithmic tools that are needed for efficient and robust control operation, performance optimization, and better understanding the relationships between entities that may be acting cooperatively or selfishly in uncertain and possibly adversarial environments. As such, this volume will be of interest to applied mathematicians, computer scientists, engineers, and researchers in other related fields.

AI for Digital Warfare explores how the weaponising of artificial intelligence can and will change how warfare is being conducted, and what impact it will have on the corporate world. With artificial intelligence tools becoming increasingly advanced, and in many cases more humanlike, their potential in psychological warfare is being recognised, which means digital warfare can move beyond just shutting down IT systems into more all-encompassing hybrid war strategies.

In this monograph the authors develop a theory for the robust control of discrete-time stochastic systems, subjected to both independent random perturbations and to Markov chains. Such systems are widely used to provide mathematical models for real processes in fields such as aerospace engineering, communications, manufacturing, finance and economy. The theory is a continuation of the authors work presented in their previous book entitled "Mathematical Methods in Robust Control of Linear Stochastic Systems" published by Springer in 2006.

Key features:

- Provides a common unifying framework for discrete-time stochastic systems corrupted with both independent random perturbations and with Markovian jumps which are usually treated separately in the control literature;

- Covers preliminary material on probability theory, independent random variables, conditional expectation and Markov chains;

- Proposes new numerical algorithms to solve coupled matrix algebraic Riccati equations;

- Leads the reader in a natural way to the original results through a systematic presentation;

- Presents new theoretical results with detailed numerical examples.

The monograph is geared to researchers and graduate students in advanced control engineering, applied mathematics, mathematical systems theory and finance. It is also accessible to undergraduate students with a fundamental knowledge in the theory of stochastic systems."

The Stafford Beer Classic Library "Stafford Beer is undoubtedly among the worlds most provocative, creative, and profound thinkers on the subject of management, and he records his thinking with a flair that is unmatched. His writing is as much art as it is science. He is the most viable system I know." Dr Russell L Ackoff, The Institute for Interactive Management, Pennsylvania, USA. "If...anyone can make it [Operations Research] understandably readable and positively interesting it is Stafford Beer...everyone in management...should be grateful to him for using clear and at times elegant English and...even elegant diagrams." The Economist This is a highly original book both in content and format. It presents thirteen 'arguments for change', these are linked by a personal commentary, and by a deeper, 'metalinguistic', commentary. Platform for Change is completely self-contained, does not deal at all with the nature of viable systems, but is directed towards the hope that our planet may yet remain viable -- and the human race survive.

This book describes a complete revolution in software engineering based on complexity science through the establishment of NSE - Nonlinear Software Engineering paradigm which complies with the essential principles of complexity science, including the Nonlinearity principle, the Holism principle, the Complexity Arises From Simple Rules principle, the Initial Condition Sensitivity principle, the Sensitivity to Change principle, the Dynamics principle, the Openness principle, the Self-organization principle, and the Self-adaptation principle. The aims of this book are to offer revolutionary solutions to solve the critical problems existing with the old-established software engineering paradigm based on linear thinking and simplistic science complied with the superposition principle, and make it possible tohelp software development organizations double their productivity, halve their cost, and remove 99% to 99.99% of the defects in their software products, and efficiently handle software complexity, conformity, visibility, and changeability. It covers almost all areas in software engineering.

The tools NSE_CLICK- an automatic acceptance testing platform for outsourcing (or internally developed) C/C++ products, and NSE_CLICK_J - an automatic acceptance testing platform for outsourcing (or internally developed) Java products are particularly designed for non-technical readers to view/review how the acceptance testing of a software product developed with NSE can be performed automatically, and how the product developed with NSE is truly maintainable at the customer site. "

This monograph discusses the issues of stability and the control of impulsive systems on hybrid time domains, with systems presented on discrete-time domains, continuous-time domains, and hybrid-time domains (time scales). Research on impulsive systems has recently attracted increased interest around the globe, and significant progress has been made in the theory and application of these systems. This book introduces recent developments in impulsive systems and fundamentals of various types of differential and difference equations. It also covers studies in stability related to time delays and other various control applications on the different impulsive systems. In addition to the analyses presented on dynamical systems that are with or without delays or impulses, this book concludes with possible future directions pertaining to this research.

This book creates the emergence of disruptive technologies that have led to a significant change in the role of mathematics and statistics for problem solving, with the use of sophisticated software and hardware in solving complex systems and process. In the era of digital technology, mathematics and statistics need to be highly relevant to be able to cater for the needs of IR4.0 such as big data analytics, simulation, autonomous system, and cloud computing. Motivated by this development, a total of 26 chapters are contributed by respectable experts for this book. The main scope of the book is to conduct a new system of modeling and simulations on solving differential equations, nonlinear equations, energy, epidemiology, and risk assessment. This book is of interest for postgraduate students, researchers as well as other scientists who are working in numerical modeling and simulations based on efficient mathematical and statistical techniques.

Since the 1950s control theory has established itself as a major mathematical discipline, particularly suitable for application in a number of research fields, including advanced engineering design, economics and the medical sciences. However, since its emergence, there has been a need to rethink and extend fields such as calculus of variations, differential geometry and nonsmooth analysis, which are closely tied to research on applications. Today control theory is a rich source of basic abstract problems arising from applications, and provides an important frame of reference for investigating purely mathematical issues. In many fields of mathematics, the huge and growing scope of activity has been accompanied by fragmentation into a multitude of narrow specialties. However, outstanding advances are often the result of the quest for unifying themes and a synthesis of different approaches. Control theory and its applications are no exception. Here, the interaction between analysis and geometry has played a crucial role in the evolution of the field. This book collects some recent results, highlighting geometrical and analytical aspects and the possible connections between them. Applications provide the background, in the classical spirit of mutual interplay between abstract theory and problem-solving practice.