This book explores the complexity of physical and social systems, describing problems related to science policy, networks, values, and education. It stresses that the best advocates for the management of general ideas for the benefit of society are academies that unite top scientists and scholars representing all fields of knowledge. That is why in the context of complexity, the activities of academies are also described, including the current tasks of academies and academia in general.

This collection of essays examines the unprecedented reach, magnitude and complexity of global challenges-political, economic, technological, social and environmental. It advocates fundamental changes in theory, research, public policy, and institutions, and advances new thinking on global leadership, human security, human-centered economics, and human rights. The book also proposes measures to break down the barriers between academic disciplines and between research and policy-making, and reconciles the objective facts of science with the subjective truths of the arts and human values. It...