Bak's Sand Pile: Strategies for a Catastrophic World - Softcover

Lewis, Ted G

Softcover

ISBN 10: 098307450X ISBN 13: 9780983074502

Publisher: Agile Research and Technology, Inc, 2011

Synopsis

Did the terrorist attacks on the United States in 2001, the massive power blackout of 2003, Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and the Gulf oil spill of 2010 'just happen'-or were these shattering events foreseeable? Do such calamities in fact follow a predictable pattern? Can we plan for the unforeseen by thinking about the unthinkable? Ted Lewis explains the pattern of catastrophes and their underlying cause. In a provocative tour of a volatile world, he guides the reader through mega-fires, fragile power grids, mismanaged telecommunication systems, global terrorist movements, migrating viruses, volatile markets and Internet storms. Modern societies want to avert catastrophes, but the drive to make things faster, cheaper, and more efficient leads to self-organized criticality-the condition of systems on the verge of disaster. This is a double-edged sword. Everything from biological evolution to political revolution is driven by some collapse, calamity or crisis. To avoid annihilation but allow for progress, we must change the ways in which we understand the patterns and manage systems. Bak's Sand Pile explains how.

About this edition

• Publisher: Agile Research and Technology, Inc
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 098307450X
• ISBN 13: 9780983074502
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 382