About the event

In a networked world, we need to think in a networked way and consider complex phenomena, such as pandemics, the climate crisis and the destabilisation of ecosystems as complete entities. The complexity scientist Dirk Brockmann examines crises of our time, searching for patterns, regularities and similarities between them and complex processes in nature. Doing so, he establishes highly thought-provoking connections – for example between wild fires and epidemics or between gilthead sea breams foraging for food and populism – and shows on the basis of numerous examples what findings we can derive from these.

His conclusion: To be able to cope with the crises of our time, we need to think in an anti-disciplinary manner and make use of the fundamental principle of nature: cooperation.

Moderation: Martin Schramm (Bayerischer Rundfunk)

In cooperation with the publishing company dtv Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG

Personal data

Born in 1969, Dirk Brockmann is a professor at the Institute of Biology at the Humboldt University in Berlin. He taught in the USA before. Having studied theoretical physics and mathematics, he addressed complex phenomena outside the traditional boundaries of physics at an early stage. He is particularly interested in structures and processes in complex biological and social networks.

About the series

"Zur Sache ..." / "To the point ..." – Authors at the Staatsbibliothek, is a series of events jointly organised by the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek and the publishing houses C.H. Beck, Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt (DVA), Antje Kunstmann, dtv, Piper and Herder, with the kind support of the Sponsors and Friends of the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek and the book trader Lehmkuhl.

Information overview