Corlin

October 12, 2025

Complexity Theory, a reading list:

Complexity Theory, a reading list:

A few friends and acquaintances have asked me to compile a short list of books to read on complexity theory.

So here ya go:

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First and most important:

https://www.santafe.edu/engage/learn/complexity-explorer

You could stop there, but if you want more:

#Books

In his book “The Complex World,” Krakauer explores how complexity science developed, from its early roots to the four pillars that now define it—entropy, evolution, dynamics and computation.

Interview:

https://www.thetransmitter.org/brain-inspired/david-krakauer-reflects-on-the-foundations-and-future-of-complexity-science/

Book:

https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-complex-world-david-c-krakauer/21813287

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#Physics

Complexity and the Universe

Sean Carroll

I have been working to understand the stages by which complexity comes into existence, thrives, and eventually disappears. Without going into technical details, in this solo episode I give an overview of the general picture and the clues we are looking at to better understand the process of complexogenesis.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWP2ktac34k

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#Compute

Evans has made it her “beat” and it’s always a pleasure to read or listen to her findings on the topic.

"What we think of as computing, like operations in silicon and tin, is really a specialized instance of a much more ancient and broad process. A process that spans material substrates, and millennia, and fills, and exists at many degrees and scales of complexity. Again, to be is to compute."

How the universe thinks without a brain | Claire L. Evans

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwr1EOvAxQI

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Lists of of other lists:

https://bookauthority.org/books/best-complexity-theory-books

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/21245.Complexity

https://www.buildingtheelite.com/chaos-complexity-systems-reading-list/

Enough ?