Taylor attempts to extend the concept of complexity from the hard sciences to the realm of social and cultural transformation. He pulls together some interesting resources but on the whole seems scattered, repetitive and even annoying. For example, he is overly fond of indulging in the discursive style one might label "post-modernism-speak." He also overuses the rhetorical device of antithesis (e.g., "There is no community without communication and no communication without community"). Some of his examples from art and architecture seem a bit of a stretch or even off the subject. On the positive side, he reviews a number of works on theories of information and complexity, including those of Shannon, Hofstadter, Dawkins, Gell-Mann and Kauffman. He also points out the influence of Kant on much subsequent philosophy and science. His main thrust, however, about the centrality and usefulness of the theory of complexity (self-organizing, self-reflexive, auto-catalytic systems that result in a qualitative change at an unpredictable quantitative point) just barely survives his obfuscating language and hodgepodge of subjects. This book is no substitute for Stuart Kauffman's seminal and exciting work on complexity, nor is it very successful at demonstrating the extension of nonlinear dynamics to nonbiological systems. (JAF) ( )