ABSTRACT
T h e c o n c e p t of c o m p l e x i t y a n d t h e s tudy of c o m p l e x sys tems r e p r e s e n t a n i m p o r t a n t focus of r e s e a r c h in c o n t e m p o r a r y sc ience. A l t h o u g h o n e m i g h t say t h a t its f o r m a l c o r e lies in m a t h e m a t i c s a n d physics , c o m p l e x i t y in a b r o a d sense is ce r ta in ly o n e of t h e m o s t i n t e r d i s c i p l i n a r y issues scient is ts of a l m o s t any conce ivab le backg r o u n d ta lk a b o u t t oday . B e y o n d t h e t r a d i t i o n a l d i sc ip l ines of t h e n a t u r a l sc iences , t h e "v i rus" of c o m p l e x i t y h a s e v e n c ros sed t h e b o r d e r t o a r e a s l ike psycho logy , sociology, eco logy a n d o t h e r s . I t is en t i r e ly i m p o s s i b l e to a d d r e s s all a p p r o a c h e s a n d a p p l i c a t i o n s t h a t a r e p r e s e n t l y k n o w n c o m p r e h e n s i v e l y h e r e ; g o o d overviews inc lud - i n g s t a t e -o f - t he -a r t a r t ic les as well as m o r e t en t a t i ve i deas a r e c o n - t a i n e d in [1,2]. W h o eve r seriously reviews th is nove l a n d p r o m i s i n g a r e a of r e s e a r c h c a n n o t avo id b e i n g i m p r e s s e d by its r i chness , its r e c e n t p r o g r e s s , a n d its r e l e v a n c e f o r m o s t u r g e n t p r o b l e m s of today , in sc ience as well as society.
