Okay, I made it through chapter three("The World Of Simple Programs") of the Book. Wolfram throws his entire arsenal at the reader to tell us how the most simple of programs can produce extraordinary complex patterns. In the Notes section to this chapter he shows how the programs can be run, mostly using his customized "Mathematica" system. He wraps everything up by trying to figure out why no one has ever noticed this stuff before.

What I did find interesting was his observation that the increasing complexity of a program does not always carry over into the results. Especially regarding his mobile cells, the more colors that go into the program do not produce more patterns or more nested designs. There seems to be a point here as to where the results drop off. It's almost as if you need to find the simplest program out there. "4" instead of "42?"

Also in the Notes section to this chapter he mentions how Alan Turing had no interest in actually building a "Turing Machine." It was all a product of his ideas and any practical application didn't concern him.

"...one of the problems with direct experiments is that they often generate huge amounts of data." No argument there. That is why a lot of places are now employing programs such as JMP and others to sort through all the mess. Design Of Experiment (DOE) has been a hot field for some time in which the statistical people meet the lab rats.

I'm starting to wonder if the Book has any application to Technocracy. There was a wild bunch I left behind years ago. "Wings over the world!" and society as being designed by readers of Amazing Stories. It was hot stuff in 1932. A lot of the early technocrats where disciples of Gannet and his wonderful charts. Also followers of Taylor and "scientific management." There may be a tie-in someplace.