Evolution of Complex Systems Lecture 1 Introduction Peter

Evolution of Complex Systems Lecture 1: Introduction Peter Andras / Bruce Charlton peter. andras@ncl. ac. uk bruce. charlton@ncl. ac. uk

Objectives n Topics of interest: Biological evolution n Evolution of the education system n Advances in computer programming n 2

Bacteria n Unicellular organisms, most of the genome is made up of protein encoding sequences 3

Medusa n Multi-cellular filter feeders with tissues and organs (www. junglewalk. com) 4

Mouse n Many tissues organised in a wide range of organs (www. junglewalk. com) 5

Monkeys n Complex animals with some social structure (www. junglewalk. com) 6

Humans n Complex animals with extensive social structure (www. maltavista. net) (www. johnmcmullin. com) 7

What are the common features ? n What are common in various biological systems: genes, cells, tissues, organisms ? 8

What drives the evolution of biological systems ? n How did we develop from bacteria ? n How can we describe the evolution of biological systems ? 9

What are the boundaries of evolutionary units ? n Are the units of evolution cells, tissues, organisms ? n Consider bacteria, cat, cancer, ant colony, etc. 10

How can we link biological and social systems ? n Complex social systems: humans, monkeys, bees, ants n Simpler social systems in other animals n How do social systems emerge from interaction of biological systems 11

What is the role of communication and information ? n Genes, proteins, nervous system 12

Education as family socialisation n Ancient times to middle ages: learning at home as part of regular socialisation (atschool. eduweb. co. uk) 13

Literacy and numeracy Few schools in the middle ages n Schools related to churches n Schooling usually guaranteed a position in church or governmental administration n (members. lycos. co. uk/ Robert. Slade/Gallery) 14

Early universities Middle ages: Italian cities, Paris, Cambridge, Oxford, Prague, etc. n Focused on theology later on law and medicine n 15

Trade schools 17 th – 19 th century n Training in specific areas n Commerce schools, technical schools n (www. kckps. org) 16

General elementary education Late 19 th – 20 th century n Basic education (literacy, numeracy) for everybody n Basic education in some sciences (e. g. , geography, biology) n (www. ethosnet. co. uk) 17

Modern universities Late 19 th – 20 th century n Organised around research and sciences n Advanced level training in sciences n (azfoo. net) 18

GCSE and A - levels Mid-late 20 th century n Standardised education and exams n Almost general secondary education n (userweb. esu 10. k 12. ne. us/~kearney) 19

Layered university system n Mid 20 th century n German system: vocational, technical and science universities n American system: community colleges, state universities, research universities n British system: further education colleges, polytechnics, universities 20

Graduate schools Mid – late 20 th century n Formal education at post – graduate level n Advanced training in scientific research n (www. wfu. edu/physics) 21

Changes of the education system n What drives these changes from one system to another ? n How did we develop graduate schools from church related basic literacy and numeracy schools ? 22

What comes next ? n Can we predict how the education system will change in the future ? n What are the likely new forms of education ? 23

Economics, politics, education n How does economics and politics interact with the education system ? n How is this interaction influencing the evolution of the education system ? n How does the change of the education system influence economics and politics ? 24

Information and communication n What is the role of information and communication within the education system ? n How do information and communication shape the evolution of the education system ? 25

Punch cards n n 40 s-50 s Early computers – early programs Very hard to program Bad joke: playing cards with them (www. csis. american. edu/museum) 26

FORTRAN and COBOL n Late 50 s – early 70 s n Early advanced programming languages n Contained the basic programming structures n E. g. , for cycle, if – then – else, subroutine n It was still difficult to write easy-tounderstand programs 27

Pascal, Ada, C n 70 s – 80 s n Structured programming languages n They allow easier programming n Structured sub-units: procedures and functions n Better management of variables n The programs are more readable by non -authors 28

OOP n 80 s – 90 s n C++, Delphi, Eiffel, Smalltalk, Java n Encapsulation and inheritance n Advanced management of variables and sub-units n Re-usability and readability by nonauthor 29

Component-based programming n Since mid – late 90 s n MFC, STL, design patterns n Very easy programming n High level of re-usability n Easy to read by non-author n Dumbing down of programming 30

From punch cards to component based programming n Why did this evolution happened ? n What are the driving forces behind ? 31

Is this good ? n Is it good that we evolved from the art of programming to dumbing down of programming ? n Are we more efficient now than at the beginning ? 32

What comes next ? n What will happen in the area of computer languages ? n What will be the next big thing in computer programming ? 33

Information and communication n What is the role of information and communication in the evolution of programming ? 34

Systems evolution n How can we describe such complex systems ? n How can we describe and analyse the evolution of complex systems ? n What is the role of information and communication in the evolution of various systems ? 35

Summary n Evolution from cells to social systems of humans n Evolution of the education system n Evolution of computer programming n How to describe and analyse the evolution of complex systems ? 36