Artificial societies and Aristotle - 2

Here is a link to info about Stephen Wolfram's book, A New Kind of Science.

I strongly advise taking a quick look at the first few reviews and comments.

Here's a sampling:

He points out that even the most complex equations fail to accurately model biological systems, but the simplest cellular automata can produce results straight out of nature--tree branches, stream eddies, and leopard spots, for instance. The graphics in A New Kind of Science show striking resemblance to the patterns we see in nature every day.

...

I gave the book three stars, but in fact I consider it almost un-ratable. What do you do with a 1200-page tome that contains a wealth of substantive and fascinating results, but which is insists, at every turn, to draw over-blown and under-supported conclusions from them? I split the difference and gave it a middling rating, but that does not convey the deep ambivalence I feel toward this work.

...

Conclusions of more modern scientists can almost always be seen as derivative when compared to the work of pioneers....Inasmuch as Leibniz-Newton and Einstein-Lorentz advanced a more concise understanding of physical reality, Wolfram's work holds promise to do the same by advancing the understanding of computation forged by Church, Turing, Zuse, and Von Neumann.

...

When the book came out some non-expert journalists hyped it without knowing its contents. Then cognoscenti had a look at it and recognized it as a rehash of old ideas, plus pretty pictures. And the reviews got worse and worse. As far as I can judge, positive reviews were written only by people without basic CS education and little knowledge of CS history....When I read Wolfram's first praise of the originality of his own ideas I just had to laugh. The tenth time was annoying. The hundredth time was boring. And that was my final feeling when I laid down this extremely repetitive book:exhaustion and boredom.