Includes bibliographical references (p. 255-282) and index.

I. Modeling ecological complexity. Problems of boundedness in modeling ecological systems -- Open sites in model building -- II. Interpreting ecological modelers in their complex social context. Metaphors and allegory in the origins of systems ecology -- Reconstructing heterogeneous webs in socio-environmental research -- III. Engaging reflexively within ecological, scientific, and social complexity. Reflecting on researchers' diverse resources -- Reasoned understandings and social change in research on common resources: introducing a framework to keep tensions active, productive, and ever-present.

Ambitiously identifying fresh issues in the study of complex systems, Peter J. Taylor, in a model of interdisciplinary exploration, makes these concerns accessible to scholars in the fields of ecology, environmental science, and science studies. Unruly Complexity explores concepts used to deal with complexity in three realms: ecology and socio-environmental change; the collective constitution of knowledge; and the interpretations of science as they influence subsequent research. For each realm Taylor shows that unruly complexity-situations that lack definite boundaries, where what goes on & quo.

Description based on print version record.