by Franco Orsucci (Rome International University & Institute for Complexity Studies, Rome)

This book focuses on the successes and difficulties of nonlinear studies, particularly in the areas of Mind Sciences. It atttempts to answer the following questions: is an interdisciplinary contamination of complexity studies in different disciplines useful? Does this contamination originate in a transdisciplinary toolbox of methods and models which is worth calling it “Nonlinear Science”? What are the relations between the metaphoric approach and the mathematical approach in natural sciences and humanities? Complexity in the Life Sciences represents a fundamental workbench for these kinds of problems. The fascinating challenge in these areas is represented by studies on mind functioning.

• Foreword (W J Freeman)
• Complexity in Science: Syntaxis versus Semantics (F T Arecchi)
• Complexity and Fractals in Physics (L Pietronero)
• Dynamical Systems in Psychology: Linguistic Approaches (W Sulis)
• Nonlinear Dynamics in Language and Psychobiological Interactions (F Orsucci)
• Minimal Models for Dyadic Processes: A Review (S Rinaldi & A Gragnani)
• Fractal Dynamics of Heartbeat Interval Fluctuations in Health and Disease (M Meyer et al.)
• Epistemological and Treatment Implications of Nonlinear Dynamics (A H Stein)
• The Six Fundamental Characteristics of Chaos and Their Clinical Relevance to Psychiatry: A New Hypothesis for the Origin of Psychosis (G B Schmid)
• Social Anthropological Considerations on the Predictability and Upredictability of Community Outcomes (G O Smith)
• Models Portability: Some Considerations about Transdisciplinary Approaches (A Giuliani)