This book contains the invited papers of an international symposium on Synergetics which was held at ZIF (Center for interdisciplinary research) at Bielefeld. Fed. Rep. of Germany. Sept. 24. -29 . • 1979. In keeping with our previous meetings. this one was truly interdisciplinary. Synergetic systems are those that can produce macroscopic spatial. temporal or functional structures in a self-organized way. I think that these proceedings draw a rather coherent picture of the present status of Synergetics, emphasizing this time theoretical aspects, although the proceedings contain also important con tributions from the experimental side. Synergetics has ties to many quite different disciplines as is clearly mirrored by the following articles. Out of the many ties I pick here only one example which is alluded to in the title of this book. Indeed, there is an important branch of mathematics called dynamic systems theory for which the problems of Synergetics might become an eldorado. While, undoubtedly, a good deal of dynamic systems had been motivated by mechanics, such as celestial and fluid dynamics, theory Synergetics provides us with a wealth of related problems of quite different fields, e. g. , lasers or chemical reaction processes. In order to become adequately applicable, in quite a number of realistic cases dynamic systems theory must be developed further. This is equally true for a number of other approaches.

The spontaneous formation of well organized structures out of germs or even out of chaos is one of the most fascinating phenomena and most challenging problems scientists are confronted with. Such phenomena are an experience of our daily life when we observe the growth of plants and animals. Thinking of much larger time scales, scientists are led into the problems of evolution, and, ultimately, of the origin of living matter. When we try to explain or understand in some sense these extremely complex biological phenomena it is a natural question, whether pro cesses of self-organization may be found in much simpler systems of the un animated world. In recent years it has become more and more evident that there exist numerous examples in physical and chemical systems where well organized spatial, temporal, or spatio-temporal structures arise out of chaotic states. Furthermore, as in living of these systems can be maintained only by a flux of organisms, the functioning energy (and matter) through them. In contrast to man-made machines, which are to exhibit special structures and functionings, these structures develop spon devised It came as a surprise to many scientists that taneously-they are self-organizing. numerous such systems show striking similarities in their behavior when passing from the disordered to the ordered state. This strongly indicates that the function of such systems obeys the same basic principles. In our book we wish to explain ing such basic principles and underlying conceptions and to present the mathematical tools to cope with them.

This book gives an introduction to the mathematical theory of cooperative behavior in active systems of various origins, both natural and artificial. It is based on a lecture course in synergetics which I held for almost ten years at the University of Moscow. The first volume deals mainly with the problems of pattern formation and the properties of self-organized regular patterns in distributed active systems. It also contains a discussion of distributed analog information processing which is based on the cooperative dynamics of active systems. The second volume is devoted to the stochastic aspects of self-organization and the properties of self-established chaos. I have tried to avoid delving into particular applications. The primary intention is to present general mathematical models that describe the principal kinds of coopera tive behavior in distributed active systems. Simple examples, ranging from chemical physics to economics, serve only as illustrations of the typical context in which a particular model can apply. The manner of exposition is more in the tradition of theoretical physics than of mathematics: Elaborate formal proofs and rigorous estimates are often replaced in the text by arguments based on an intuitive understanding of the relevant models. Because of the interdisciplinary nature of this book, its readers might well come from very diverse fields of endeavor. It was therefore desirable to minimize the re quired preliminary knowledge. Generally, a standard university course in differential calculus and linear algebra is sufficient.

This book addresses both multi robot systems and miniaturization to the nanoscale from a unifying point of view, but without leaving aside typical particularities of either. The unifying aspect is based on the concept of information minimization whose precise formulation is the Haken-Levi-principle. The authors introduce basic concepts of multi-component self-organizing systems such as order parameters (well known from equilibrium and non-equilibrium phase transitions) and the slaving principle (which establishes a link to dynamical systems). Among explicit examples is the docking manoeuvre of two robots in two and three dimensions. The second part of the book deals with the rather recently arising field of molecular robotics. It is particularly here where nature has become a highly influential teacher for the construction of robots. In living biological cells astounding phenomena occur: there are molecules (proteins) that literally walk on polymer strands and transport loads that are heavier than their carriers, or molecules that, by joint action, contract muscles. The book provides the reader with an insight into these phenomena, especially by a detailed theoretical treatment of the molecular mechanism of muscle contraction. At the molecular level, for an appropriate approach the use of quantum theory is indispensable. The authors introduce and use it in a form that avoids all the clumsy calculations of wave-functions. They present a model which is based on an elementary version of quantum field theory and allows taking into account the impact of the surrounding on the quantum mechanical activity of a single molecule. By presenting explicit and pedagogical examples, the reader gets acquainted with the appropriate modelling of the walking behaviour of single molecular robots and their collective behaviour. The further development of multi-robot systems and particularly of molecular robots will require the cooperation of a variety of disciplines. Therefore the book appeals to a wide audience including researchers, instructors, and advanced graduate students.

Synergetics, according to E. J. Applewhite, was Fuller's name for the geometry he advanced based on the patterns of energy that he saw in nature. For Fuller, geometry was a laboratory science with the touch and feel of physical models--not rules out of a textbook. It gains its validity not from classic abstractions but from the results of individual physical experience. Description by the Buckminster Fuller Institute, courtesy of The Estate of Buckminster Fuller

The book provides an introduction to some basic concepts of linguistic synergetics, viewed here as a new multidisciplinary research approach to language studies. It also advances diachronic linguosynergetics, focusing on principles and mechanisms of language change and development, and employing the methodological integrity of philosophy, linguistics and synergetics. Diachronic linguosynergetics endeavours to capture language in a state of change, when a language system follows a non-linear path, through numerous fluctuations and dissipation, leading out of chaos to order and stability. The book considers human language as an open, dynamic, non-linear, and self-organising system, with all its hierarchical subsystems and elements coherently interconnected and controlled by governing parameters. Special emphasis is laid on a variety of change rates on different language levels. As such, diachronic linguosynergetics is capable of addressing a broad range of issues concerning language change. It sheds new light on language development and permits better descriptions of phase transitions, or reconfigurations, of language as a synergetic megasystem.

The shared platform of the articles collected in this volume is usedto advocate a dynamical systems approach to cognition. It is arguedthat recent developments in cognitive science towards an account ofembodiment, together with the general approach of complexity theoryand dynamics, have a major impact on behavioral and cognitivescience.