InhaltsangabeI General Aspects of Complex Systems.- Synergetics as a Strategy to Cope with Complex Systems.- Evolution, Creativity and Intelligence in Complex Systems.- Philosophical Foundations of Nonlinear Complex Systems.- II Mathematical Models of Populations and Societies.- Diversity and Collective Action.- On the Application of Synergetics to Social Systems.- Emergent Behavior in Insect Societies: Global Oscillations, Chaos and Computation.- Collective Dynamics in Models of Communicating Populations.- III Complex Systems in Social Sciences and Psychology.- From Social Engineering to Synergetics On Metaphors Models and Reality.- Social Order. From Individual Activity to Functional Cooperation.- The Significance of Nonlinear Phenomena for the Investigation of Cognitive Systems.- Pattern Formation in Complex Cognitive Processes.- IV Complex Systems in Biology, Physiology and Ecology.- Modelling Pattern Formation in Ecological Systems.- Characterization of Temporal and Spatio-temporal Chaos.- Attractor-Ruled Dynamics in Neurobiology: Does it Exist? Can it be Measured?.- Synergetics of Blood Movement Through Microvascular Networks: Causes and Consequences of Nonlinear Pressure-Flow Relationships.- Index of Contributors.