Complexity: A Guided Tour by Melanie Mitchell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
How does an ant colony organize itself? How does the immune system work? What is the similarity between the world wide web and your brain?
If you have pondered any of these questions, “Complexity: A Guided Tour” is just the book for you.1
Any computer scientist who graduated in the last ten or so years would have covered some of the topics in Melanie Mitchell’s “Complexity: A Guided Tour”, and would have probably wished that they had Ms. Mitchell as a lecturer!
Ms. Mitchell is clearly passionate about her subject. Her book covers a number of topics in the emerging field of Complexity such as emergent behaviour, computer science, genetic algorithms, network theory, etc. Ms. Mitchell does not get too technical, but still manages to convey the key ideas with clarity. Her explanation of Turing’s universal computer and the “Halting Problem” are great examples of explaining a complex topic in an approachable manner. I enjoyed the chapters on genetic algorithms, computability and cellular automata. I wish she had gone into a bit more detail on Network theory.
This is an enjoyable book for anyone who is interested in computer science or is mathematically inclined. Those without a background in computer science may find it a bit of a slog. Ms. Mitchell also provides generous notes and references for further study. I enjoyed this book very much.