Bak's Sand Pile - Strategies for a Catastrophic World (Paperback)

Did the terrorist attacks on the United States in 2001, the massive power blackout of 2003, Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and the Gulf oil spill of 2010 'just happen'-or were these shattering events foreseeable? Do such calamities in fact follow a predictable pattern? Can we plan for the unforeseen by thinking about the unthinkable?Ted Lewis explains the pattern of catastrophes and their underlying cause. In a provocative tour of a volatile world, he guides the reader through mega-fires, fragile power grids, mismanaged telecommunication systems, global terrorist movements, migrating viruses, volatile markets and Internet storms. Modern societies want to avert catastrophes, but the drive to make things faster, cheaper, and more efficient leads to self-organized criticality-the condition of systems on the verge of disaster. This is a double-edged sword. Everything from biological evolution to political revolution is driven by some collapse, calamity or crisis. To avoid annihilation but allow for progress, we must change the ways in which we understand the patterns and manage systems. Bak's Sand Pile explains how.

General

Imprint:	Agile Research and Technology, Inc
Country of origin:	United States
Release date:	February 2011
First published:	February 2011
Authors:	Ted G. Lewis
Dimensions:	152 x 229 x 22mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Paperback - Trade
Pages:	382
ISBN-13:	978-0-9830745-0-2
Categories:	Books > Social sciences > Politics & government > Central government > Central government policies
LSN:	0-9830745-0-X
Barcode:	9780983074502

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