The Web's Awake is a book that draws from a diverse well of understandings. It brings together a number of ideas centred on complexity and directly relates them back to the phenomenon we know today as the World Wide Web, or "Web" for short. This naturally brings with it more subtle subject matter dealing with aspects such as dynamics and a variety of patterns and theories. By feeding heavily on both the material understandings of sciences like physics, chemistry and biology as well as the abstract formalities of mathematics and computing, it points the way to a new field of scientific endeavour; the field of Web Science. Where the book distinguishes itself is in its comparison between the Web, as the most complex sociotechnical system known today, and the absolute pinnacle of all complex systems, life itself. If you're intrigued about connections, new perspectives, evolutionary potentials and the bewildering properties of complex, entangled systems then this is certainly the book for you.

Undoubtedly the Web has provided a collection of technologies that is having a profound effect on mankind. Like the wheel, the plough and steam power before it, it is a proving a truly differentiating tool in our world, changing the very ways in which we interact with each other, our surroundings and our socioeconomic systems. But, unlike the great technologies that have come before it, the Web is different. Why? Because its phenomenal growth and complexity are starting to outstrip our capability to control it directly, making it impossible for us to grasp its completeness in one go. It may quite literally be taking on a life of its own. A set of emergent characteristics and behaviours are now starting to appear that we have not programmed individually. These are apparently starting to increase in number and strength, leading some to believe that the Web not only has its own life, but may also now be worthy of being considered a living organism in its own right; a new posthuman species consisting of just one isolated member.

Many have worked on the concept of emergent properties within highly complex systems, concentrating heavily on the underlying mechanics concerned. Few, however, have studied the fundamentals involved from a sociotechnical perspective. In short, the virtual anatomy of the Web remains relatively uninvestigated. The Web's Awake therefore attempts to seriously explore this apparent gap, citing a number of provocative, yet objective, similarities from studies relating to both real world and digital systems.

It is not a book of definitive answers or rigorous proofs. It is a book about connections, new perspectives, immutable patterns and the bewildering properties of complex,entangled systems. By referencing material from a broad range of fields it presents a collage of interlinked facts, assertions and coincidences which boldly point to a Web with a powerful potential for life.

Cover Notes

Has the World Wide Web evolved into a new life form? The author of this provocative book, Philip Tetlow, presents a very compelling argument that it indeed has.

Drawing from theories originating in the natural sciences, mathematics, and information technology, The Web's Awake explores how the continued growth and increasing complexity of the Web are quickly outstripping our capability to control it. In other words, the Web has quite literally taken on a life of its own.

Stringently researched and clearly presented, the book examines a number of emergent characteristics and behaviors of the Web that have not been programmed, but rather have evolved. As the number and strength of these new Web characteristics and behaviors continue to increase, the author persuasively argues that the Web should be considered a living organism in its own right, a new post-human species consisting of a single member.

Having established a new understanding of what the Web is, the author next offers a remarkable perspective on how the Web is evolving towards independence. He further argues that understanding the Web's evolution as an act of nature enables us to better harness the Web's resources for the good of society.

While researchers in the emerging field of Web science have attempted to categorize what the Web is, this book takes a radically new approach that will change your understanding of the very nature and essence of the Web-what it is and where it is heading. Whether your interest lies in computing, information technology, evolution, physics or biology, the author's clearly written, plain-English arguments are fascinating material for thought.

Philip Tetlow is an Executive IT Architect and a member of the (UK and Ireland) Technical Consultancy Group in IBM's Global Business Services Practice. He holds the first PhD in Web Science, is a Chartered Engineer, an Open Group Master IT Architect and a Fellow of the Institute of Engineering and Technology. He has over 20 years experience in the IT industry and has worked on a number of challenging client facing projects. He specialises in the application of Web-based technologies, metadata and transformation techniques on large central government systems. He has participated in the World Wide Web Consortium and coordinated their taskforce on the application of the Semantic Web in Software Engineering as part of the Semantic Web Best Practices and Deployment Working Group. He is also acknowledged in the Object Management Group's Ontology Definition Metamodel (ODM) specification and has been a Software Engineering workshop committee member at the International Semantic Web Conference on two occasions .

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