Product Description
From one of the architects of the new science of simplicity and complexity comes an explanation of the connections between nature at its most basic level and natural selection, archaeology, linguistics, child development, computers, and other complex adaptive systems. Nobel laureate Murray Gell-Mann offers a uniquely personal and unifying vision of the relationship between the fundamental laws of physics and the complexity and diversity of the natural world.

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 3.5 based on 29 reviews)

The Quark and the Jaguar by R. T. Thomson (Canterbury New Zealand)

4 Stars
October 26, 2009
We ordinary mortals can't really understand quantum mechanics, but this book gives us a bit more insight!

The basics of information theory as relating to the science of emergent order is clearly presented by Frater W.I.T.

4 Stars
December 01, 2006
This book gives valuable information on how complex systems arise out of a simple, natural ground. Gell-Mann's theories are useful in understanding chaos theory as well as many branches of quantum physics. A description of Gell-Mann's ecological explorations and efforts to maintain the biosphere is also given. The magician and student of physics will be well rewarded for reading Gell-Mann's work. The processes of consciousness and so magical phenomena may be understood in this light.

Too tedious to finish by Christopher M. Adams (San Francisco, CA USA)

3 Stars
September 02, 2006
Mr. Gell-Mann won a Nobel Prize for his work in physics, but he will never will a Pulitzer for his writing. It's too tedious to endure. I love reading books about physics. I tried to read this book -- twice. I wanted to like it. But both times, I got no more than a third of the way through, and couldn't force myself to read another word. Mr. Gell-Mann's writing is too convoluted and dry, his theories so superficially presented. Unless you're a speed reader, I'd imagine there are very few people who would ever waste the time required to force themselves through this very disappointing book.

Complexity theme is contrived; superficial coverage of many subjects by Grumpy Pants (Seattle, WA USA)

2 Stars
October 13, 2005
Gell-Mann went to much effort to weave the diverse topics of this book together under the theme of complex adaptive systems. I found this to be a pointless endeavor. A good theme should provide cohesion or make the subject more approachable. Conceiving of both a single-celled organism and a culture as complex adaptive systems, however, provides little insight into the functioning of either and serves mostly to drive home the point that the notion of a complex adaptive system is so broad that nearly anything worth discussing falls under that heading. Quantum physics is discussed at length. Unfortunately this section reads more like a catalog of concepts and discoveries than like a good introduction conveying key concepts. Other subjects (biology, evolution, ecosystems, computer learning, economics, public policy) are covered too superficially to yield anything of interest. The major arguments of _The Quark and the Jaguar_ are as follows: 1) Effective complexity is not the same as algorithmic complexity. Algorithmic complexity is 0 for uniform data and highest for completely random data. (Potential) effective complexity is highest in the middle, where patterns and rules (schema) can be derived and minimal for both uniform data and random data. 2) Classical physics implies a deterministic world. How can anything interesting happen? Because quantum physics offers randomness. 3) Complex adaptive systems create schemas to model the data. This is true for the formation of life, to children learning to speak, to scientific progress, etc. Successful complex adaptive systems are solutions to problems. So the biological and cultural diversity on the planet represents a huge amount of valuable information. 4) We should preserve biological and cultural diversity so we don't lose valuable information.

What a disappointment by Librum (CA, USA)

3 Stars
January 05, 2005
I might also have entitled my review, "See Carlos Camara's review of April 11, 2002." Camara captures my own thoughts to a tee. Where Gell-Mann is strongest, namely, on particle physics, his strengths shine through. Though hardly a rigorous survey of the field, the second section of Q&J is a compelling introduction to it -- and certainly whets one's appetite for further reading. The book's first section (an overview of the notion of complexity) is decent (though far better popular treatments can be found elsewhere). The book's third and fourth sections, however, are pretty much a total wash. I could tolerate them only insofar as they reflected the obvious integrity of the author. He is a political kindred spirit. That said, having purchased Q&J and had high expectations of it, I was surprised and not a little frustrated at how bereft of substance it was on matters "Jaguarian". More than a little disconnected, I found the second half of Q&J rambling, pedestrian, and even sophomoric. Certainly not what one expects of a Nobel prize winning physicist and of one of the founders of the Santa Fe institute. My respect for Gell-Mann, as a scientist and a humanist, is in no way diminished by Q&J, but I cannot help but feel that he (and his publisher) faltered with this effort. My advice: read the first half of Q&J for a cursory -- but well-written -- survey of complexity and particle physics. Skip the second half altogether.

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