MERCED - The University of California, Merced, will host an
evening with internationally renowned economist W. Brian Arthur on
Sept. 24. Arthur, external professor at the Santa Fe Institute and
visiting researcher at the Palo Alto Research Center’s Intelligent
Systems Lab, will discuss his new book, “The Nature of Technology:
What it is and how it Evolves.”Arthur will speak at 5:30 p.m. in
Classroom & Office Building Room 116. A reception will follow
the lecture.
“Brian Arthur is a top economist and a fantastic speaker. We are
thrilled that he agreed to come to UC Merced to discuss his new
theory of technology,” said UC Merced Professor
Teenie Matlock, who founded the university’s
Mind, Technology
and Society talk series.
Arthur has been credited with influencing and describing the
modern theory of increasing returns. An in-demand speaker on
economics and complexity theory in technology and financial
markets, Arthur’s interests in recent years have turned toward the
power of technology to influence economy.
In “The Nature of Technology,” Arthur presents his theory of the
origins and evolution of technology. Arthur explains how
transformative new technologies arise and how innovation really
works. Technology evolves much as a coral reef builds itself from
activities of small organisms — it creates itself from
itself; and all technologies are descended from earlier technologies.
Arthur was the first director of the Economics Program at the
Santa Fe Institute in New Mexico, and has served on the Santa Fe
Institute’s Science Board and Board of Trustees. He holds a Ph.D.
from Berkeley in Operations Research, and has other degrees in
economics, engineering, and mathematics. Arthur is the recipient of
the Schumpeter Prize in economics, the Lagrange Prize in complexity
science, and two honorary doctorates.
Arthur’s lecture is part of the MTS lecture series, which is
funded by a generous gift from the Glushko-Samuelson Foundation.
His visit is co-sponsored by the faculty in Cognitive and
information Sciences and the UC Merced Center for Management and Entrepreneurship.
NOTE: Permit parking is enforced in all lots on campus
until 6 p.m. on weekdays. Parking permits are $1 per hour and
available in bright-yellow dispensers on campus.
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