In a Flight of Starlings: The Wonder of Complex Systems

Product Information

The book is a lovely overview of complex systems and shared mathematical similarities across fields. His first popular science book, In a Flight of Starlings: The Wonder of Complex Systems, which charts some of the highlights of his life’s work and makes a passionate case for the value of science, is published on 11 July. Its not written in the language of mathematics, which is great for the reader who may not be as fluent in the language of symbols (which can differ even among the sciences). When it was time to go to university, I pondered if I should do physics or maths, but in the end I went for physics.

Parisi’s voice is amiable and conversational, which endows [In a Flight of Starlings ] with the feel of a conversation with a wise and generous elder. Parisi’s voice is amiable and conversational, which endows [In a Flight of Starlings] with the feel of a conversation with a wise and generous elder. For, even with my limited insight into the dynamics of magnetic interactions or the basics of combinatorial calculus (a term wisely left off the book’s cover), I did grasp the main thrust of Parisi’s argument: We live in an intricate web of ever more complicated dynamics, but that web is shaped, stretched, and spun by our little choices and chats. Along the way, Parisi reflects on the lessons he's taken from a life in pursuit of scientific truth: the importance of serendipity to the discovery of new ideas, the surprising kinship between physics and other fields of study and the value of science to a thriving society.However, by this point, the author had proved himself a compelling teacher, and I wanted to be a good student.

It is as if we were driving at night: the sciences are our headlights, but it is the responsibility of the driver to not leave the road and to take into account that the headlights have a limited range. We have seen during the pandemic the tragedy of the many people who have died refusing to be vaccinated, despite the millions of COVID-related deaths. We have seen how measures to contain the pandemic were often taken too late, only when they could no longer be postponed.I was really excited for what I thought this book was (a book from a Nobel prize winning physicist about complex systems) and ended up reading a memoir/essay collection instead.

To this end, in this book I have told something of my own story through select reports on significant episodes in my scientific life.When you have multiple minima and the ball keeps on rolling and the dynamics change as a function of time. Now that climate change is starting to affect people’s lives, there is perhaps a stronger reaction, but we need much more forceful measures to be taken.