Synergetics An Introduction : Nonequilibrium Phase Transitions and Self-organization in Physics, Chemistry and Biology

This book is an often-requested reprint of two classic texts by H. Haken: "Synergetics. An Introduction" and "Advanced Synergetics." Synergetics, an interdisciplinary research program initiated by H. Haken in 1969, deals with the systematic and methodological approach to the rapidly growing field of complexity. Going well beyond qualitative analogies between complex systems in fields as diverse as physics, chemistry, biology, sociology and economics, Synergetics uses tools from theoretical physics and mathematics to construct an unifying framework within which quantitative descriptions of complex, self-organizing systems can be made. This may well explain the timelessness of H. Haken's original texts on this topic, which are now recognized as landmarks in the field of complex systems. They provide both the beginning graduate student and the seasoned researcher with solid knowledge of the basic concepts and mathematical tools. Moreover, they admirably convey the spirit of the pioneering work by the founder of Synergetics through the essential applications contained herein that have lost nothing of their paradigmatic character since they were conceived.