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Reductionism, as a paradigm, is expired, and complexity, as a field, is tired. Data-based mathematical models of complex systems are offering a fresh perspective, rapidly developing into a new discipline: network science.

Physicist Geoffrey West has found that simple, mathematical laws govern the properties of cities -- that wealth, crime rate, walking speed and many other aspects of a city can be deduced from a single number: the city's population. In this mind-bending talk from TEDGlobal he shows how it works and how similar laws hold for organisms and corporations.

For those who felt that Geoffrey glossed over the implications for cities and companies, the following article in the New York Times did a respectable job of drawing conclusions from Dr. West's paper: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/19/magazine/19Urban_West-t.html