Book Review Published: "Self-Organization and Emergence in Life Sciences"

Gershenson, C. (2008). Book Review: "Self-Organization and Emergence in Life Sciences", edited by Bernard Feltz, Marc Crommelinck and Philippe Goujon. Artificial Life 14 (2):239-240.

Excerpts:

Self-organization and emergence have received much attention in biology and artificial life [1, 2, 4, 5], even though these pervasive concepts have eluded strict definition [3]. This makes the contributions contained in this interdisciplinary volume relevant to many aspects of artificial life.
(...)
The book consists of three parts, dedicated to the scientific approach, the historical approach, and the epistemological and conceptual approaches,
(...)
The study of self-organization and emergence is still in development, and although this volume is worthwhile for those familiar with the field, a definitive introduction has yet to be written. This volume is not recommended as a first reading on the topic, as the articles are at the discussion level. It is certainly recommended for people doing active research related to emergence and self-organization. It contains important perspectives sometimes ignored in the Anglophone community.

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