Complex systems science: Dreams of universality, interdisciplinarity reality

  • Authors:

  • Sebastian Grauwin;Guillaume Beslon;Éric Fleury;Sara Franceschelli;Celine Robardet;Jean-Baptiste Rouquier;Pablo Jensen

  • Affiliations:

  • Université de Lyon and IXXI, Rhône-Alpes Institute of Complex Systems, 69364, Lyon and Laboratoire de Physique, UMR CNRS 5672, ENS de Lyon, 69364, Lyon, France;Université de Lyon and IXXI, Rhône-Alpes Institute of Complex Systems, 69364, Lyon and LIRIS, UMR CNRS 5205, INSA-Lyon, 69621, Villeurbanne, France;Université de Lyon and IXXI, Rhône-Alpes Institute of Complex Systems, 69364, Lyon and LIP, UMR CNRS 5668, INRIA and ENS de Lyon, 69364, Lyon, France;Université de Lyon and IXXI, Rhône-Alpes Institute of Complex Systems, 69364, Lyon and ENS de Lyon, 69364, Lyon, France;Université de Lyon and IXXI, Rhône-Alpes Institute of Complex Systems, 69364, Lyon and LIRIS, UMR CNRS 5205, INSA-Lyon, 69621, Villeurbanne, France;ISC-PIF, Paris Île-de-France Complex System Institute, Paris, France;Université de Lyon and IXXI, Rhône-Alpes Institute of Complex Systems, 69364, Lyon and Laboratoire de Physique, UMR CNRS 5672, ENS de Lyon, 69364, Lyon, France

  • Venue:
  • Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology
  • Year:
  • 2012

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Abstract

Using a large database (∼215,000 records) of relevant articles, we empirically study the complex systems field and its claims to find universal principles applying to systems in general. The study of references shared by the articles allows us to obtain a global point of view on the structure of this highly interdisciplinary field. We show that its overall coherence does not arise from a universal theory, but instead from computational techniques and fruitful adaptations of the idea of self-organization to specific systems. We also find that communication between different disciplines goes through specific “trading zones,” i.e., subcommunities that create an interface around specific tools (a DNA microchip) or concepts (a network). © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.