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The Perfect Swarm
Book

The Perfect Swarm

The Science of Complexity in Everyday Life

Len Fisher
Basic Books, 2009

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Editorial Rating

7

Qualities

  • Analytical
  • Innovative
  • Concrete Examples

Recommendation

As its title suggests, this lively book often makes its points with humor and wit. Physicist and author Len Fisher draws on laboratory experiments, observations of the natural world, well-known historical events, contemporary cases and examples from his own life, making a complex subject accessible. His book covers some ground that will be familiar from other books on group intelligence, collaboration and the wisdom of crowds, but the material on “swarm intelligence” is new. Fisher’s numerous examples from all facets of nature provide highly fascinating case studies of group behavior. getAbstract recommends this book to professionals in marketing and strategy, and to trainers and readers who are interested in new ways of thinking.

Take-Aways

  • As demonstrated by swarms of locusts and schools of fish, groups possess the power of “self-organization.”
  • Order can emerge out of chaos without any guiding intelligence.
  • Groups often know things that individuals don’t. This is called “swarm intelligence.”

About the Author

Len Fisher, Ph.D., wrote How to Dunk a Doughnut, Weighing the Soul and Rock, Paper, Scissors. He is a visiting fellow of physics at the University of Bristol.

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