Out of Control: The New Biology of Machines, Social Systems, & the Economic World

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Every purchased copy will be signed by Kevin Kelly. 

Out of Control is my first book, and some readers tell me that it is my best book. It is a sprawling summary of what we know about self-sustaining autonomous systems. Much of the book investigates the possibilities of decentralized systems, including artificial life, robots, and AI. It hints at how the internet should work – before it really appeared. There is a whole chapter on crypto money, written in 1992. The primary message of the book is that there is only a thin line between complex machines and living organisms – both behave the same. The last chapter of the book, “The Nine Laws of God,” is a distillation of the nine common principles that all life-like systems share and how to make complicated things from simple things. Although it was written in the last century, it reads like it was written today. I would hardly change anything if I wrote it now (although I’d try to make it shorter!). Each copy is signed by me. – KK

• Publication date ‏ : ‎ April 14, 1995
• Edition ‏ : ‎ Reprint
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 531 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0201483408
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0201483406
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.8 pounds
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 9 x 6 x 1.6 inches

Reviews: 

...represents an attempt to comprehend the possible future evolution of everything. This is the wonderful sort of subject which can quickly transform a reader's idle curiosity into an obsessive craving for more knowledge and imaginative interpretation. Kelly offers plenty of both, with hackle-raising enthusiasm, eloquence, and even that scientific rarity, a sense of humor. — London Spectator

...the best of an important new genre. The book offers a pointed reminder that self organization...is the essence of innovation, progress, and life itself. These are eternal ideas -- and ideas whose time has come. — Forbes ASAP