CSCS 501 An introduction to Complex Systems Rick Riolo rlriolo@umich.edu cscs.umich.edu/~rlr Fall 2004 This course covers a broad range of fundamental topics relevant to the study of complex systems. The course work involves weekly readings and discussion of papers and selections from books. The readings focus on "classics" in the complex systems literature, in order to give students a broad, general understanding for the variety of work that falls under the rubric of complex systems. Topics to be covered will include evolutionary systems, self-organized criticality, measures of complexity, approaches to modeling complex adaptive systems, and emergence. Authors to be covered include Holland, Axelrod, Kaufmann, Arthur, Bak, Gell-Mann, Simon and many more. The course page is: cscs.umich.edu/education/CSCS-courses/cscs501.html There are pointers to - a little history about the origin of this course - syllabus for past terms - candidate readings ( ** please check this out ** ) - syllabus for this term (as we fill it in) - course-work and grading policy This course is one of the courses required for the CSCS Rackham Graduate Certificate program. For information about this graduate degree, see cscs.umich.edu/education/graduateEducation.html The goals of this course are, roughly: - exposure to a broad view of complex systems studies - learn a common language and set of concepts - build a community of students interested in complex systems studies - have fun reading and discussing some really interesting material! The challenges to making this a successful course include: - students with different backgrounds and skills - students with different interests - pressures for courses in students' areas of specialization, not much time for many more courses This course is always A Work in Progress!! It is designed to meet as many of the above goals/needs as possible---with *your* help! Thus *suggestions* are always welcome! Another way to view this course is as a preparatory course (perhaps taken concurrently) for attending the Complex Systems Reading Group (CSRG) meetings. See this page: cscs.umich.edu/readingGroup.html for a description of that informal student-led reading group and its schedule for this term. It is also good preperation for joining CSAAW (Complex Systems Advanced Academic Workshop), a group for students who are using (or plan to use) a complex systems approach for (at least part of) their dissertation projects. For more info: http://www.cscs.umich.edu/CSAAW/ This course (CSCS 501) is *really* a discussion class: - I'm not going to lecture. - I expect students will do the readings and drive the discussion. I expect students will be asking questions about terms, ideas, concepts that are unfamiliar to them. This course always has students from many disciplines, so in general some students know (or can quickly learn) about one or another of the topics we cover. I expect students to share their knowledge with the rest of the class as the opportunity and need arises! Also remember: make google your friend! you can easily find short intro's to most topics we cover. - I welcome students suggestions regarding the syllabus. - We will maintain informality and follow the community building aspects of CSRG Please remember: This is not calculus 115. The "field" of Complex Systems Studies is very new, so there is plenty of room for a variety of ideas and viewpoints. If you have questions about points or claims the authors try to make, or just think they are full of mortadella, feel free to say so! (In a constructive and reasoned way, of course.) For credit students: - 33% discussion -- seriously!! Includes leading the dicussion for some class sessions, attending regularly and participating in the dicussions (with questions, comments). - 33% on each of two short papers (Summary/commentary/critique of readings, some from class, some not covered in class.) - No incompletes (except in dire emergency) In general there is no reason for them in this class. The papers do not have to be masterpieces of ground-breaking work! They should be seen as opportunities to explore aspects of Complex Systems that are of most interest to you. Not-for-credit students: "Intro" track of CSRG - I welcome full participation in discussions - No need to write papers, of course! (*** There may be NO ROOM for not-for-credit students ***) Each session two students will serve as discussion leaders. You can run the session however you want. For instance, you might summarize or at least list what you thought were some of the main points or ideas in the readings. I think one good approach is to ask all participants to come to class with *at least* two pre-prepared questions/comments, Then the discussion leaders wrote those on the board and then as a group went through them. But whatever you do, the idea is to have a good discussion, so don't lecture! (The expectation is that everyone has done the readings...) Generally the co-leaders co-ordinate their leadership (via email or meeting or whatever). ** Question: Do we want to **require all** people to bring 2 or more ** questions/comments each class? ** (My advice: YES!) **Note: We will also use a few classes for students to briefly present a summary of their mid-term papers (eg 10-15 minutes each). Students have enjoyed this very much, as it gives them a chance to learn what is of interest to others in the class, and it gives them a chance to learn about areas not covered in class. These presentations have led to very spirited discussions! ==> There are a lot of reading to do -- there is just a lot of ground to cover, just to get a brief introduction to as much what is called "Complex Systems Studies" as possible in one term. PLAN AHEAD!! Check the amount to read for future classes and read ahead as needed. The readings for the first few weeks are on the course web page. - The first week is a bunch of views of/answers to: What are complex (adaptive) systems (studies)? - The Waldrop and Kelly books are "popular science" books, which give a good flavor for the history of (parts of) the modern complex systems field and (some of) the players. The reading is relatively easy, but lots of good ideas are raised, especially if you take the time to think about it. - The Flake book has nice "formal" introductions to a good range of topics that come up again and again in the SCS. ** Question: How to read the Flake book (a textbook type book)? ** a) a chapter or two each week, along with other readings? ** b) all at once, reading just from this book, over just a couple of weeks? ** CSCS has purchased copies of the Waldrop book. We will sell them for $14 each to enrolled students. **IF YOU ARE REGISTERED* (or are likely to be registered...) Please go to the CSCS office (next door). CSCS also has some copies of the Flake book ($38) and the Kelly book ($14 --- if you still like hardcopy...it is online for free!) *** We need volunteers for leading the first discussion(s)... (At two leaders per discussion, expect to lead 2-3 times this term.) NB: See the syllabus on the course web page for the *official* readings list! I will fill it in more after the first class or two. Here are next weeks readings: Mon 13 Sep Introduction: What are Complex Systems? Waldrop: Complexity, (prologue) pp 9-13. Flake: The Computational Beauty of Nature, pp 1-8. (Class handout) Kelly: Out of Control, Chapter 2 -- online here Casti: Would-be-Worlds, pp 13-36 (cp#1) Bar-Yam: Section 0, Overview: The Dynamics of Complex Systems, pp 1-15. online version of book! Johnson: Emergence, pp18-23, (cp#1) Axelrod and Cohen: pp1-31. Discussion Leaders: Wed 15 Sep More introduction. (All from cp#1) Gell-Mann: Quark and Jaguar, pp16-61, pp69-74 and Chap 9. Holland: Emergence, pp1-15. Excerpt from "Complexity: Metaphors, Models and Reality", pp 1-45. Auyang: Synthetic Analysis of Complex Systems I - Theories Discussion Leaders: ----------------------- There is a course pack at AccuCopy (on East William) which has the excerpts for the first week of readings, as well as some other things which we will read at some point in the rest of the term. Later there probably will be another course pack, and a few more books to buy, as we decide on what to read for the rest of the term. ******* Important ******* Often this class is over-subscribed (by a lot!). The final class size will be about 16-20 students. I will give admission priority in this order: - CSCS students - other graduate students - undergraduates generally first-come-first-serve within each category, but with some bias given to students who are about to graduate (and so cannot take the course in future terms). If you are registered (or on the waitlist) and plan to drop, please let me know ASAP, so others can get into the course. I'd really like to have about 16-18 students in the class, in order to better foster good discussions by all participants, though in a stretch we could go to maybe 18-20... *** Please *** Please decide in the next week if you are going to stay or drop the course. Please do not stay for 2-4 weeks, then drop, as that means others lower on the waitlist will have missed a chance to take the class now. This course will be offered next fall for sure. It may be offered this winter term (if there is enough demand). ************************ There is (will be) an UM CourseTools site for this class. ************************ Please send the information below to me ASAP: - are you registered (for credit) or not; if not, do you want to take it for credit?! - your area of study, and your interests in general your email address - what topics you'd be most interested in reading about, either from the lists off the course page or your own additions. - what books/people you'd most like to read, either from the lists mentioned above or your own additions. - how many books you'd consider reasonable to buy? most/all on my list are paperbacks now...we've typically read enough of about 5-7 books to make purchasing them a good idea. (these are all "classics" you'd want on your "Complex Systems Studies" shelf, anyway!) (Note these are not textbooks, so they are typically not expensive.) - any other ideas you have about how this course/reading group should proceed, e.g., - format of discussions - order of readings - whatever! ========================================================================== Also of interest: CSCS Seminar Series You can get announcements of up-coming seminars and other CSCS related events, job postings, etc., by joining the CSCS mailing list---just send a request to cscs@umich.edu . The schedule also is posted on cscs.umich.edu/calendar/seminars-f04.html