[alife] Krohn-Rhodes Theory and Biological Complexity

[Chrystopher Nehaniv]

Dear Colleagues,

For understanding biological complexity and complexity applied to  
areas like psychology and games, you may be interested the new, long- 
awaited edition of the previously unpublished underground classic by  
John Rhodes.

Best Regards,

Chrystopher Nehaniv

==

APPLICATIONS OF AUTOMATA THEORY AND ALGEBRA
Via the Mathematical Theory of Complexity to Biology, Physics,  
Psychology, Philosophy, and Games
by John Rhodes (University of California at Berkeley, USA) , edited by  
Chrystopher L Nehaniv (University of Hertfordshire, UK) , & foreword  
byMorris W Hirsch (University of California at Berkeley, USA)

Publisher: World Scientific Publishing (3 Nov 2009)

This book was originally written in 1969 by Berkeley mathematician  
John Rhodes. It is the founding work in what is now called algebraic  
engineering, an emerging field created by using the unifying scheme of  
finite state machine models and their complexity to tie together many  
fields: finite group theory, semigroup theory, automata and sequential  
machine theory, finite phase space physics, metabolic and evolutionary  
biology, epistemology, mathematical theory of psychoanalysis,  
philosophy, and game theory. The author thus introduced a completely  
original algebraic approach to complexity and the understanding of  
finite systems. The unpublished manuscript, often referred to as “The  
Wild Book”, became an underground classic, continually requested in  
manuscript form, and read by many leading researchers in mathematics,  
complex systems, artificial intelligence, and systems biology. Yet it  
has never been available in print until now.

This first published edition has been edited and updated by  
Chrystopher Nehaniv for the 21st century. Its novel and rigorous  
development of the mathematical theory of complexity via algebraic  
automata theory reveals deep and unexpected connections between  
algebra (semigroups) and areas of science and engineering. Co-founded  
by John Rhodes and Kenneth Krohn in 1962, algebraic automata theory  
has grown into a vibrant area of research, including the complexity of  
automata, and semigroups and machines from an algebraic viewpoint, and  
which also touches on infinite groups, and other areas of algebra.  
This book sets the stage for the application of algebraic automata  
theory to areas outside mathematics.

The material and references have been brought up to date by the editor  
as much as possible, yet the book retains its distinct character and  
the bold yet rigorous style of the author. Included are treatments of  
topics such as models of time as algebra via semigroup theory;  
evolution-complexity relations applicable to both ontogeny and  
evolution; an approach to classification of biological reactions and  
pathways; the relationships among coordinate systems, symmetry, and  
conservation principles in physics; discussion of “punctuated  
equilibrium” (prior to Stephen Jay Gould); games; and applications to  
psychology, psychoanalysis, epistemology, and the purpose of life.

The approach and contents will be of interest to a variety of  
researchers and students in algebra as well as to the diverse, growing  
areas of applications of algebra in science and engineering. Moreover,  
many parts of the book will be intelligible to non-mathematicians,  
including students and experts from diverse backgrounds.


Contents:
Introduction
What is Finite Group Theory?
A Generalization of Finite Group Theory to Finite Semigroups
A Reformulation of Physics
Automata Models and the Complexity of Finite State Machines
Applications:
Part I: Analysis and Classification of Biochemical Reactions
Part II: Complexity of Evolved Organisms
Part III: The Lagrangian of Life:
The Laws of Growing and Evolving Organisms
Complexity, Emotion, Neuorsis and Schizophrenia
Part IV: Complexity of Games
   Readership: Students and researchers interested in understanding  
complexity in biology (evolution, genetics, metabolism, biochemistry),  
physics, mathematics, philosophy, mathematical psychology and  
psychoanalysis, artificial intelligence, automata theory (and its  
foundations in semigroup and group theory), game theory, and  
computational sciences.


https://www.wspc.com.sg/mathematics/7107.html

Available in hardback or software cover editions.