Synergetics : Introduction and Advanced Topics

This book is a reprint edition that comprises two titles, namely "Synergetics. An Introduction. Nonequilibrium Phase Transitions and Self-Organization in Physics, Chemistry and Biology" and Advanced Synergetics. Instability Hierarchies of Self- Organizing Systems and Devices". The reason for this publication is two-fold: Since synergetics is a new type of interdisciplinary field, initiated by the author in 1969, the basic ideas developed in these volumes are of considerable theoretical interest. But much more than this, the methods and even the concrete examples presented in these books are still highly useful for graduate students, professors, and even for researchers in this fascinating field. The reason lies in the following facts: Synergetics deals with complex systems, i. e. systems that are composed of many individual parts that are able to spontaneously form spatial, temporal or functional structures by means of self-organization. Such phenomena occur in many fields ranging from physics, chemistry and biology to economy and sociology. More recent areas of application have been found in medicine and psychology, where the great potential of the basic principles of synergetics can be unearthed. Further applications have become possible in informatics, for instance the designing of new types of computers, and in other fields of engineering.