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Uncertainty and Surprise in Complex Systems

Questions on Working with the Unexpected

  • Book
  • © 2005

Overview

Editors:
  1. Reuben R. McDaniel
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    You can also search for this editor in PubMed   Google Scholar

  2. Dean J. Driebe
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  • Exploring new strategies of uncertainty and surprise in the world around us
  • Includes one of the last distributions of nobel laureat Ilya Prigogine
  • Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

Part of the book series: Understanding Complex Systems (UCS)

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Table of contents (18 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

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  2. 1 Uncertainty and Surprise: An Introduction

    • Reuben R. McDaniel, Dean J. Driebe
    Pages 3-11

  3. 2 Surprises in a Half Century

    • Ilya Prigogine†
    Pages 13-16

  4. 3 Complexity, Uncertainty and Surprise: An Integrated View

    • Dean J. Driebe, Reuben R. McDaniel
    Pages 19-30

  5. 4 The Evolutionary Complexity of Social Economic Systems: The Inevitability of Uncertainty and Surprise

    • Peter M. Allen, Mark Strathern, James S. Baldwin
    Pages 31-50

  6. 5 Managing the Unexpected: Complexity as Distributed Sensemaking

    • Karl E. Weick
    Pages 51-65

  7. 6 Fundamental “Uncertainty” in Science

    • Linda E. Reichl
    Pages 71-76

  8. 7 The Complementary Nature of Coordination Dynamics: Toward a Science of the In-Between

    • J.A. Scott Kelso
    Pages 77-85

  9. 8 The Tyranny of Many Dimensionless Constants: A Constraint on Knowability

    • Bruce J. West
    Pages 87-92

  10. 9 A View from the Inside: The Task of Managing Uncertainty and Surprise

    • Erich K. Baier
    Pages 95-98

  11. 10 An Introduction to the Mathematics and Meaning of Chaos

    • Larry S. Liebovitch
    Pages 99-105

  12. 11 The Social Construction of Uncertainty in Healthcare Delivery

    • James W. Begun, Amer A. Kaissi
    Pages 109-121

  13. 12 Primary Care Practice: Uncertainty and Surprise

    • Benjamin F. Crabtree
    Pages 123-129

  14. 13 Medical Errors and Microsystems: The Best Things Cannot Be Told

    • John C. Peirce
    Pages 131-144

  15. 14 Organization and Leadership in Hospitals

    • James H. Taylor
    Pages 145-150

  16. 15 The Fundamental Uncertainty of Business: Real Options

    • James S. Dyer
    Pages 153-164

  17. 16 Transforming Your Regional Economy through Uncertainty and Surprise: Learning from Complexity Science, Network Theory and the Field

    • June Holley
    Pages 165-176

  18. 17 Uncertainty as Certaint

    • Tom Petzinger
    Pages 177-179

  19. 18 Uncertainty and Surprise: Ideas from the Open Discussion

    • Michelle E. Jordan
    Pages 183-200
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Keywords

About this book

Complexity science has been a source of new insight in physical and social systems and has demonstrated that unpredictability and surprise are fundamental aspects of the world around us. This book is the outcome of a discussion meeting of leading scholars and critical thinkers with expertise in complex systems sciences and leaders from a variety of organizations, sponsored by the Prigogine Center at The University of Texas at Austin and the Plexus Institute, to explore strategies for understanding uncertainty and surprise. Besides contributions to the conference, it includes a key digest by the editors as well as a commentary by the late nobel laureate Ilya Prigogine, "Surprises in half of a century". The book is intended for researchers and scientists in complexity science, as well as for a broad interdisciplinary audience of both practitioners and scholars. It will well serve those interested in the research issues and in the application of complexity science to physical and social systems.

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