Complexity in Science and Technology

Description

New sciences is not developed at random or from scratch, but instead rooted in knowledge and wisdom. This course is to open up students' mind to welcome the scientific knowledge and wisdom (such as Complexity in Networks, Chaos, Fractals, and AI) and to guide the students to witness how these pieces of knowledge were developed and how they can light up the modern sciences, thereby helping them to improve their innovative ideas and cognitive skills. Through the lectures, students will be able to grasp some major concepts of general scientific knowledge and technology, and understand some core ideas in a few selected modern scientific fields (specifically,  complex networks, chaos theory, fractals, intelligent systems and complexity). Throughout course learning and after-class reading, students will be able to experience the close relationships among the long-lasting scientific knowledge, the rapidly-evolving modern science notions, and their daily-life activities and applications. This course aims to enhance the appreciation of close relationship between the fundamental knowledge and the advancements of contemporary science and technology, including topics such as complex networks, chaos, fractals, and intelligent systems. It also serves as an introductory course in life philosophy that could enrich students' life-long learning and personal development. Remark: To pass the course, students are required to achieve at least 30% in the continuous assessment (HWs + 2 Tests) and 30% in the examination (1 Final Exam).