This thoroughly updated version of the German authoritative work on self-organization has been completely rewritten by internationally renowned experts and experienced book authors to also include a review of more recent literature. It retains the original enthusiasm and fascination surrounding thermodynamic systems far from equilibrium, synergetics, and the origin of life, representing an easily readable book and tutorial on this exciting field. The book is unique in covering in details the experimental and theoretical fundamentals of self-organizing systems as well as such selected features as random processes, structural networks and multistable systems, while focusing on the physical and theoretical modeling of natural selection and evolution processes. The authors take examples from physics, chemistry, biology and social systems, and include results hitherto unpublished in English.The result is a one-stop resource relevant for students and scientists in physics or related interdisciplinary fields, including mathematical physics, biophysics, information science and nanotechnology.

- Introduction to the field of self-organization- Fundamental laws of equilibrium and non-equilibrium thermodynamics- Evolution of the earth and the terrestrial climate- Nonlinear dynamics, instabilities and fluctuations- Self-reproduction, multistability and information transfer as basic mechanisms of evolution- Competition and selection processes- Models of evolution processes- Self-organization of information and symbols - On the origin of life- Conclusion and outlook