Emergence

Pairing a poet's heart with an unquenchable thirst for the latest technology and science, Johnson reveals why the whole is sometimes smarter than the sum of its parts. In his examination of emergence theory and its applications, he explains how a lively neighborhood evolves from a disconnected group of shopkeepers, bartenders, and real estate developers. He also shows how media events take on a life of their own, and how new software programs will create an intelligent World Wide Web. The author's final chapter is guaranteed to spark controversy: he suggests that the Internet could usher in a revolution every bit as significant as the introduction of electricity.