Hidden Order, John H. Holland. Addison-Wesley, 1995.
This is a readable and interesting introduction to Holland’s approach to complex adaptive systems. It touches on agents and emergence, and considers models that are being designed and built in software. The clarity of the book is a two-edged sword – there are insights, but it makes it clear that there’s a long way to go before this is anything like a full explanation for things. (A lesser book would push the hype and obscure the distance.) I get the same sense as when I look back at production systems, Prolog, and Cyc – there’s something there, but maybe not enough. (Reviewed Feb, ’04)