Simplexity: The Simple Rules of a Complex World

Why does kicking the TV work? What can the US military learn from the lowly bacterium? Why are the instruction manuals for cell phones incomprehensible? How does a spark of a single virus trigger an epidemic that claims millions? In recent years, cutting-edge studies in fields such as economics, genetics, stock-market analysis and child development have hit on a startling new theory - 'simplexity'. To put it simply, simple things can be more complicated than they seem, and complex things more simple. The evidence is before our eyes: in your elaborate network of household plumbing actually run on a very basic mechanism, or the crystal paperweight on your desk, spectacular in its complexity. As simplexity moves from the research lab into popular consciousness it will challenge our models for modern living. You'll never unknowingly whack the TV again and you'll understand just how much it means to smile at your child. Popular science journalist Jeffrey Kluger adeptly translates cutting-edge theory into a high-octane history of everything, which will have you rethinking the rules of business and pleasure. From the micro to the macro, "Simplexity" is a startling reassessment of the building blocks of life and how they affect us all.

Jeffrey Kluger is a senior editor and writer for Time magazine. With astronaut Jim Lovell, he wrote Lost Moon: The Perilous Voyage of Apollo 13, on which the 1995 movie Apollo 13 was based. His other books include the critically acclaimed Splendid Solution: Jonas Salk and the Conquest of Polio. Kluger lives in New York City with his wife and daughters.