Emergence as Harmony
Mathematical Principles of Self-Organization, Complexity, and Collective Behavior
$282.15
- Hardcover
320 pages
- Release Date
20 October 2026
Summary
Emergent phenomena arise when complex systems exhibit properties that are absent in their constituent parts. They span scales and disciplines, from the collective intelligence of bird flocks in biology to the patterns of inequality and segregation in economics and sociology. Do these disparate examples share unifying principles? How do order and collective behavior emerge from chaos through self-organization?
Venkat Venkatasubramanian shows that a novel paradigm—statistical teleodynam…
Book Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780231224574 |
|---|---|
| ISBN-10: | 0231224575 |
| Author: | Venkat Venkatasubramanian |
| Publisher: | Columbia University Press |
| Imprint: | Columbia University Press |
| Format: | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages: | 320 |
| Release Date: | 20 October 2026 |
| Dimensions: | 152mm x 229mm |
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Critics Review
Emergence has long resisted unified explanation. In Emergence as Harmony, Venkatasubramanian delivers exactly that—a transdisciplinary mathematical framework spanning biology, economics, sociology, and AI. A rare synthesis: technically deep, conceptually original, and ultimately pointing toward something as elusive as harmony itself. – Julio Mario Ottino, author of The Nexus: Augmented Thinking for a Complex World
An extraordinary and inspiring work. Venkatasubramanian composes as a physicist-artist, orchestrating emergence as harmony across domains—from the universal microstructure of LLMs to income inequality. Channeling E. T. Jaynes, he generously shares a profound, fresh new movement for thinking about purpose and agency. – Darrell Velegol, Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering, Penn State University
Venkat Venkatasubramanian
Venkat Venkatasubramanian is the Samuel Ruben–Peter G. Viele Professor of Engineering at Columbia University. He is the author of How Much Inequality Is Fair? Mathematical Principles of a Moral, Optimal, and Stable Capitalist Society (Columbia, 2017). He is an elected member of the US National Academy of Engineering.
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