WESS invites you to contribute your creative ideas.

                                                        March 7, 2002

Dear Colleagues:

WESS is seeking to assemble a set of the fundamental questions that
are guiding research and debate on emerging and evolving complex
systems. We seek to focus our inquiry on such questions that are
fundamental to physical, chemical, biological, social and cultural
emergence. We seek your contributions to enhancing our understanding
of the current state of affairs and to creating our agenda.

The Washington Evolutionary Systems Society (WESS) has existed for
nearly two decades. During our history, we have discussed and
debated a wide range of concepts and ideas related to evolutionary
systems. Concomitantly, a gradual shift in the public perceptions of
science and scientific philosophies has occurred. How will these
perceptions evolve in the next three years? five years? ten years?
fifty years? What can WESS contribute to these emerging public
discussions?

The professional activities of WESS members contribute to the
progress of evolutionary thought in a wide range of disciplines.
These contributions place our membership in positions to evaluate the
immediate, intermediate and long range futures of their disciplines
and hence to contribute to the construction of a list of critical
"open questions".

What are the critical questions facing your discipline? Which
questions are being addressed by the leading scholars in your
discipline and in closely related disciplines?

Please make a short list of the fundamental open questions in your
field of inquiry. In particular, what important questions are not
being adequately addressed? Short explanation of the reasoning
supporting the critical nature of these questions for the future of
your discipline are welcomed.

Please forward your contribution to me at the return address on this email.

A preliminary discussion of the proposed critical questions will be
discussed by the participants in WESSbook on Saturday, March 16,
2002. The meeting will be held at 1:30 PM in room 284 of the Reiss
Sciences Building on the Georgetown University Campus in Washington,
D.C..

   Local members are invited to make short presentations (10 - 15
minutes) to the WESSbook meeting to help create the forum for future
discussions. If you desire to contribute to the open discussion,
please email or call at your earliest convenience

Two suggestions: If you know colleagues who share our interests,
feel free to invite them to submit their contributions as well.
Secondly, your suggestions of either recent or classical books which
address or develop the questions of concern to you and references to
such books would be welcomed along with your conceptual questions.

For further information or discussion, please call me at 703-790-1651.

Cheers

Jerry LR Chandler
President
WESS

Research Professor
Krasnow Institute for Advanced Study
George Mason University

Fellow
Institute for the Study of Coherence and Emergence
Received on Thu Mar 7 07:11:21 2002