In Nature''s Magic Peter Corning states that synergy--a vaguely
familiar term to many of us--has been a wellspring of creativity in
the natural world and has played a key role in the evolution of
cooperation and complexity at all levels, from physics and
chemistry to the latest human technologies. The ''Synergism
Hypothesis'' asserts that synergy is more than a class of
interesting and ubiquitous effects. It has also been a major causal
agency in evolution; it represents a unifying explanation for
biological complexity and represents a different perspective on the
evolutionary process. In contrast to gene-centered theories, or
postulates of self-organization and emergent ''laws'' of complexity,
the Synergism Hypothesis represents, in essence, an ''economic'' or
bio-economic theory of complexity. Peter A. Corning, Ph.D., is the
Director of the Institute for the Study of Complex Systems in Palo
Alto, California. He has published numerous research papers and
articles and three previous books, one of which was a theoretical
monograph on the role of synergy in evolution, The Synergism
Hypothesis: A Theory of Progressive Evolution McGraw-Hill,
1983.