ABSTRACT
Complexity, a contemporary theme embraced by physical as well as social sciences, is concerned with the collective behavior observed in composite systems in which long-range order is induced by short-range interactions of the constituent parts. Complex forms and functions abound in nature. Particularly in biology and physiology, branched, nested, granular, or otherwise richly packed, irregular, or disordered objects are the rule rather than the exception. Similarly ubiquitous are distributed, broad-band phenomena that appear to fluctuate randomly. The rising science of complexity holds the promise to lead to powerful tools to analyze, model, process, and control the global behavior of complex biomedical systems.
