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Interplay Theory and Experiment New
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Complexity in Chemistry and Beyond: Interplay
Theory and Experiment
NATO Science for Peace and Security Series
This Series presents the results of scientific meetings supported under the NATO
Programme: Science for Peace and Security (SPS).
The NATO SPS Programme supports meetings in the following Key Priority areas:
(1) Defence Against Terrorism; (2) Countering other Threats to Security and (3) NATO,
Partner and Mediterranean Dialogue Country Priorities. The types of meeting supported
are generally “Advanced Study Institutes” and “Advanced Research Workshops”. The
NATO SPS Series collects together the results of these meetings. The meetings are
co-organized by scientists from NATO countries and scientists from NATO’s “Partner” or
“Mediterranean Dialogue” countries. The observations and recommendations made at the
meetings, as well as the contents of the volumes in the Series, reflect those of participants
and contributors only; they should not necessarily be regarded as reflecting NATO views
or policy.
Advanced Study Institutes (ASI) are high-level tutorial courses intended to convey the
latest developments in a subject to an advanced-level audience
Advanced Research Workshops (ARW) are expert meetings where an intense but
informal exchange of views at the frontiers of a subject aims at identifying directions for
future action
Following a transformation of the programme in 2006 the Series has been re-named and
re-organised. Recent volumes on topics not related to security, which result from meetings
supported under the programme earlier, may be found in the NATO Science Series.
The Series is published by IOS Press, Amsterdam, and Springer, Dordrecht, in
conjunction with the NATO Emerging Security Challenges Division.
Sub-Series

A. Chemistry and Biology Springer


B. Physics and Biophysics Springer
C. Environmental Security Springer
D. Information and Communication Security IOS Press
E. Human and Societal Dynamics IOS Press

http://www.nato.int/science
http://www.springer.com
http://www.iospress.nl

Series B: Physics and Biophysics


Complexity in Chemistry
and Beyond: Interplay Theory
and Experiment

New and Old Aspects of Complexity


in Modern Research
edited by

Craig Hill
Department of Chemistry, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

and

Djamaladdin G. Musaev
Department of Chemistry, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

123
Published in Cooperation with NATO Emerging Security Challenges Division
Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Research Workshop on
From Simplicity to Complexity in Chemistry and Beyond:
Interplay Theory and Experiment
Baku, Azerbaijan
28–30 May 2008

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012955938

ISBN 978-94-007-5550-5 (PB)


ISBN 978-94-007-5547-5 (HB)
ISBN 978-94-007-5548-2 (e-book)
DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-5548-2

Published by Springer,
P.O. Box 17, 3300 AA Dordrecht, The Netherlands.

www.springer.com

Printed on acid-free paper

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contained herein.
Preface

Complexity occurs in biological and synthetic systems alike. This general


phenomenon has been addressed in recent publications by investigators in
disciplines ranging from chemistry and biology to psychology and philosophy.
Studies of complexity for molecular scientists have focused on breaking symmetry,
dissipative processes, and emergence. Investigators in the social and medical
sciences have focused on neurophenomenology, cognitive approaches and self-
consciousness. Complexity in both structure and function is inherent in many
scientific disciplines of current significance and also in technologies of current
importance that are rapidly evolving to address global societal needs. The classical
studies of complexity generally do not extend to the complicated molecular and
nanoscale structures that are of considerable focus at present in context with these
evolving technologies. This book reflects the presentations at a NATO-sponsored
conference on Complexity in Baku, Azerbaijan. It also includes some topics that
were not addressed at this conference, and most chapters have expanded coverage
relative to what was presented at the conference. The editors, participants and
authors thank funding from NATO for making this opus possible.
This book is a series of chapters that each addresses one or more of these
multifaceted scientific disciplines associated with the investigation of complex
systems. In addition, there is a general focus on large multicomponent molecular
or nanoscale species, including but not limited to polyoxometalates. The latter are
a class of compounds whose complicated and tunable properties have made them
some of the most studied species in the last 5 years (polyoxometalate publications
are increasing dramatically each year and are approaching 1,000 per year). This
book also seeks to bring together experimental and computational science to tackle
the investigation of complex systems for the simple reason that for such systems,
experimental and theoretical findings are now highly helpful guiding one other, and
in many instances, synergistic.
Chapters 1 and 2 by Mainzer and Dei, respectively, address “Complexity” from
the general and philosophical perspective and set up the subsequent chapters to
some extent. Chapter 3 by Gatteschi gives an overview of complexity in molecular
magnetism and Chap. 4 by Glaser provides limiting issues and design concepts for

v
vi Preface

single molecule magnets. Chapter 5 by Cronin discusses the prospect of developing


emergent, complex and quasi-life-like systems with inorganic building blocks based
upon polyoxometalates, work that relates indirectly to research areas targeted in
the following two chapters. Chapter 6 by Diemann and Müller describes giant
polyoxometalates and the engaging history of the molybdenum blue solutions,
one of the most complex self assembling naturally occurring inorganic systems
known. Chapter 7 by Bo and co-workers discusses the computational investigation
of encapsulated water molecules in giant polyoxometalates via molecular dynamics,
studies that have implications for many other similar complex hydrated structures in
the natural and synthetic worlds. Chapter 8 by Astruc affords a view of another huge
field of complex structures, namely dendrimers, and in particular organometallic
ones and how to control their redox and catalytic properties. Chapter 9 by Farzaliyev
addresses an important, representative complicated solution chemistry with direct
societal implications: control and minimization of the free-radical chain chemistry
associated with the breakdown of lubricants, and by extension many other consumer
materials. Chapters 10 and 11 address computational challenges and case studies on
complicated molecular systems: Chap. 10 by Poblet and co-workers examines both
geometrical and electronic structures of polyoxometalates, and Chap. 11 by Maseras
and co-workers delves into the catalytic cross-coupling and other carbon-carbon
bond forming processes of central importance in organic synthesis. Chapter 12 by
Weinstock studies a classic case of a simple reaction (electron transfer) but in highly
complex molecular systems and Chap. 13 by Hill, Musaev and their co-workers
describes two types of complicated multi-functional material, those which detect
and decontaminate odorous or dangerous molecules in human environments and
catalysts for the oxidation of water, an essential and critical part of solar fuel
generation.

Craig L. Hill and Djamaladdin G. Musaev


Department of Chemistry, Emory University
Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Contents

1 Challenges of Complexity in Chemistry and Beyond .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1


Klaus Mainzer
2 Emergence, Breaking Symmetry
and Neurophenomenology as Pillars of Chemical Tenets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Andrea Dei
3 Complexity in Molecular Magnetism. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Dante Gatteschi and Lapo Bogani
4 Rational Design of Single-Molecule Magnets .. . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Thorsten Glaser
5 Emergence in Inorganic Polyoxometalate Cluster
Systems: From Dissipative Dynamics to Artificial Life. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Leroy Cronin
6 The Amazingly Complex Behaviour of Molybdenum Blue Solutions 103
Ekkehard Diemann and Achim Müller
7 Encapsulated Water Molecules in Polyoxometalates:
Insights from Molecular Dynamics .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Pere Miró and Carles Bo
8 Organometallic Dendrimers: Design, Redox Properties
and Catalytic Functions .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Didier Astruc, Catiá Ornelas, and Jaime Ruiz
9 Antioxidants of Hydrocarbons: From Simplicity to Complexity .. . . . . 151
Vagif Farzaliyev
10 Structural and Electronic Features of Wells-Dawson
Polyoxometalates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
Laia Vilà-Nadal, Susanna Romo, Xavier López,
and Josep M. Poblet

vii
viii Contents

11 Homogeneous Computational Catalysis:


The Mechanism for Cross-Coupling and Other C-C Bond
Formation Processes.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Christophe Gourlaouen, Ataualpa A.C. Braga,
Gregori Ujaque, and Feliu Maseras
12 Electron Transfer to Dioxygen by Keggin
Heteropolytungstate Cluster Anions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
Ophir Snir and Ira A. Weinstock
13 Multi-electron Transfer Catalysts for Air-Based Organic
Oxidations and Water Oxidation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
Weiwei Guo, Zhen Luo, Jie Song, Guibo Zhu,
Chongchao Zhao, Hongjin Lv, James W. Vickers,
Yurii V. Geletii, Djamaladdin G. Musaev, and Craig L. Hill
Contributors

Didier Astruc Institut des Sciences Moléculaires, UMR CNRS Nı 5255, Université
Bordeaux I, Talence Cedex, France
Carles Bo Institute of Chemical Research of Catalonia (ICIQ), Tarragona, Spain
Departament de Quı́mica Fı́sica i Quı́mica Inorgànica, Universitat Rovira i Virgili,
Tarragona, Spain
Lapo Bogani Physikalisches Institut, Universität Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany
Ataualpa A.C. Braga Institute of Chemical Research of Catalonia (ICIQ),
Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain
Leroy Cronin Department of Chemistry, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK
Andrea Dei LAMM Laboratory, Dipartimento di Chimica, Università di Firenze,
UdR INSTM, Sesto Fiorentino (Firenze), Italy
Ekkehard Diemann Faculty of Chemistry, University of Bielefeld, Bielefeld,
Germany
Vagif Farzaliyev Institute of Chemistry of Additives, Azerbaijan National
Academy of Sciences, Baku, Azerbaijan
Dante Gatteschi Department of Chemistry, University of Florence, INSTM, Polo
Scientifico Universitario, Sesto Fiorentino, Italy
Yurii V. Geletii Department of Chemistry, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
Thorsten Glaser Lehrstuhl für Anorganische Chemie I, Fakultät für Chemie,
Universität Bielefeld, Bielefeld, Germany
Christophe Gourlaouen Institute of Chemical Research of Catalonia (ICIQ),
Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain
Weiwei Guo Department of Chemistry, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
Craig L. Hill Department of Chemistry, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA

ix
x Contributors

Xavier López Departament de Quı́mica Fı́sica i Inorgànica, Universitat Rovira i


Virgili, Tarragona, Spain
Zhen Luo Department of Chemistry, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
Hongjin Lv Department of Chemistry, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
Klaus Mainzer Lehrstuhl für Philosophie und Wissenschaftstheorie, Munich Cen-
ter for Technology in Society (MCTS), Technische Universität München, Munich,
Germany
Feliu Maseras Institute of Chemical Research of Catalonia (ICIQ), Tarragona,
Catalonia, Spain
Unitat de Quı́mica Fı́sica, Edifici Cn, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona,
Bellaterra, Catalonia, Spain
Pere Miró Institute of Chemical Research of Catalonia (ICIQ), Tarragona, Spain
Achim Müller Faculty of Chemistry, University of Bielefeld, Bielefeld, Germany
Djamaladdin G. Musaev Department of Chemistry, Cherry L. Emerson Center
for Scientific Computation, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
Catiá Ornelas Institut des Sciences Moléculaires, UMR CNRS Nı 5255, Univer-
sité Bordeaux I, Talence Cedex, France
Josep M. Poblet Departament de Quı́mica Fı́sica i Inorgànica, Universitat Rovira
i Virgili, Tarragona, Spain
Susanna Romo Departament de Quı́mica Fı́sica i Inorgànica, Universitat Rovira i
Virgili, Tarragona, Spain
Jaime Ruiz Institut des Sciences Moléculaires, UMR CNRS Nı 5255, Université
Bordeaux I, Talence Cedex, France
Ophir Snir Department of Chemistry, Ben Gurion University of the Negev,
Beer Sheva, Israel
Jie Song Department of Chemistry, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
Gregori Ujaque Unitat de Quı́mica Fı́sica, Edifici Cn, Universitat Autònoma de
Barcelona, Bellaterra, Catalonia, Spain
James W. Vickers Department of Chemistry, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
Laia Vilà-Nadal Departament de Quı́mica Fı́sica i Inorgànica, Universitat Rovira i
Virgili, Tarragona, Spain
Ira A. Weinstock Department of Chemistry, Ben Gurion University of the Negev,
Beer Sheva, Israel
Chongchao Zhao Department of Chemistry, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
Guibo Zhu Department of Chemistry, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
Chapter 1
Challenges of Complexity in Chemistry
and Beyond

Klaus Mainzer

I can hardly doubt


that when we have some control of the arrangement of things on
a small scale
we will get an enormously greater range of possible properties
that substances can have.
R.P. Feynman1

Abstract The theory of complex dynamical systems is an interdisciplinary method-


ology to model nonlinear processes in nature and society. In the age of globalization,
it is the answer to increasing complexity and sensitivity of human life and
civilization (e.g., life science, environment and climate, globalization, informa-
tion flood). Complex systems consist of many microscopic elements (molecules,
cells, organisms, agents, citizens) interacting in nonlinear manner and generating
macroscopic order. Self-organization means the emergence of macroscopic states
by the nonlinear interactions of microscopic elements. Chemistry at the boundary
between physics and biology analyzes the fascinating world of molecular self-
organization. Supramolecular chemistry describes the emergence of extremely
complex molecules during chemical evolution on Earth. Chaos and randomness,

1
Interesting in this context is that nonlinear chemical, dissipative mechanisms (distinguished from
those of a physical origin) have been proposed as providing a possible underlying process for some
aspects of biological self-organization and morphogenesis. Nonlinearities during the formation of
microtubular solutions are reported to result in a chemical instability and bifurcation between
pathways leading to macroscopically self-organized states of different morphology (Tabony,
J. Science, 1994, 264, 245).
K. Mainzer ()
Lehrstuhl für Philosophie und Wissenschaftstheorie, Munich Center for Technology in Society
(MCTS), Technische Universität München, Arcisstrasse 21, D-80333 Munich, Germany
e-mail: [email protected]

C. Hill and D.G. Musaev (eds.), Complexity in Chemistry and Beyond: Interplay 1
Theory and Experiment, NATO Science for Peace and Security Series B: Physics
and Biophysics, DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-5548-2 1,
© Springer ScienceCBusiness Media Dordrecht 2012
2 K. Mainzer

growth and innovations are examples of macroscopic states modeled by phase


transitions in critical states. The models aim at explaining and forecasting their
dynamics. Information dynamics is an important topic to understand molecular self-
organization. In the case of randomness and chaos, there are restrictions to compute
the macrodynamics of complex systems, even if we know all laws and conditions of
their local activities. Future cannot be forecast in the long run, but dynamical trends
(e.g., order parameters) can be recognized and influenced (“bounded rationality”).
Besides the methodology of mathematical and computer-assisted models, there are
practical and ethical consequences: Be sensible to critical equilibria in nature and
society (butterfly effect). Find the balance between self-organization, control, and
governance of complex systems in order to support a sustainable future of mankind.

1.1 General Aspects

Complexity is a modern science subject, sometimes quite difficult to define exactly


or to detail accurately its boundaries. Over the last few decades, astonishing
progress has been made in this field and, finally, an at least relatively unified
formulation concerning dissipative systems has gained acceptance. We recognize
complex processes in the evolution of life and in human society. We accept physico-
chemical and algorithmic complexity and the existence of archetypes in dissipative
systems. But we have to realize that a deeper understanding of many processes—in
particular those taking place in living organisms—demands also an insight into the
field of “molecular complexity” and, hence, that of equilibrium or near-equilibrium
systems, the precise definition of which has still to be given [1].
One of the most obvious and likewise most intriguing basic facts to be considered
is the overwhelming variety of structures that—due to combinatorial explosion—
can be formally built from only a (very) limited number of simple “building
blocks” according to a restricted number of straight-forward “matching rules”.
On the one hand, combinatorial theory is well-equipped and pleasant to live
with. Correspondingly, it is possible to some extent to explore, handle, and use
combinatorial explosion on the theoretical and practical experimental level. On the
other hand, the reductionist approach in the natural sciences has for a long time
focused rather on separating matter into its elementary building blocks than on
studying systematically the phenomena resulting from the cooperative behaviour of
these blocks when put together to form higher-order structures, a method chemists
may have to get accustomed to in the future in order to understand complex
structures [2].
Independent progress in many different fields—from algorithmic theory in
mathematics and computer science via physics and chemistry to materials science
and the biosciences—has made it possible and, hence, compels us to try to bridge
the gap between the micro- and the macro-level from a structural (as opposed to a
purely statistical, averaging) point of view and to address questions such as:
1 Challenges of Complexity in Chemistry and Beyond 3

1. What exactly is coded in the ingredients of matter (elementary particles, atoms,


simple molecular building blocks) with respect to the emergence of complex
systems and complex behaviour? The question could, indeed, be based on the
assumption that a “creatio ex nihilo” is not possible!
2. During the course of evolution, how and why did Nature form just those com-
plicated and—in most cases—optimally functioning, perfectionated molecular
systems we are familiar with? Are they (or at least some of them) appropriate
models for the design of molecular materials exhibiting all sorts of properties
and serving many specific needs?
3. While, on the one hand, a simple reductionist description of complex systems
in terms of less complex ones is not always meaningful, how significant are, on
the other hand, phenomena (properties) related to rather simple material systems
within the context of creating complex (e.g., biological) systems from simpler
ones?
4. In particular: Is it possible to find relations which exist between supramolecular
entities, synthesized by chemists and formed by conservative self-organization or
self-assembly processes, and the most simple biological entities? And how can
we elucidate such relations and handle their consequences? In any case, a pre-
condition for any attempt to answer these questions is a sufficient understanding
of the “Molecular World”, including its propensities or potentialities [2, 3].
5. Self-organizing processes are not only interesting from an epistemic point of
view, but for applications in materials, engineering, and life sciences. In an
article entitled “There’s Plenty of Room at the Bottom”, Richard Feynman
proclaimed his physical ideas of the complex nanoworld in the late 1950s [4].
How far can supramolecular systems in Nature be considered self-organizing
“nanomachines”? Molecular engineering of nanotechnology is inspired by the
self-organization of complex molecular systems. Is the engineering design
of smart nanomaterials and biological entities a technical co-evolution and
progression of natural evolution?
6. Supramolecular “transistors” are an example that may stimulate a revolutionary
new step in the technology of quantum computer. On the other side, can complex
molecular systems in nature be considered quantum computers with information
processing of qubits? [5].
From a philosophical point of view, the development of chemistry is toward
complex systems, from divided to condensed matter then to organized and adaptive
systems, on to living systems and thinking systems, up the ladder of complexity.
Complexity results from multiplicity of components, interaction between them,
coupling and (nonlinear) feedback. The properties defining a given level of com-
plexity result from the level below and their multibody interaction. Supramolecular
entities are explained in terms of molecules, cells in terms of supramolecular
entities, tissues and organs in terms of cells, organisms in terms of tissues and
organs, and so on up to social groups, societies, and ecosystems along a hierar-
chy of levels defining the taxonomy of complexity. At each level of increasing
complexity novel features emerge that do not exist at lower levels, which are
4 K. Mainzer

explainable and deducible from but not reducible to those of lower levels. In this
sense, supramolecular chemistry builds up a supramolecular science whose already
remarkable achievements point to the even greater challenges of complexity in the
human organism, brain, society, and technology.

1.2 Complexity in Systems Far from Equilibrium

The theory of nonlinear complex systems [6] has become a successful and widely
used tool for studying problems in the natural sciences—from laser physics,
quantum chaos, and meteorology to molecular modeling in chemistry and computer
simulations of cell growth in biology. In recent years, these tools have been used
also—at least in the form of “scientific metaphors”—to elucidate social, ecological,
and political problems of mankind or aspects of the “working” of the human mind.
What is the secret behind the success of these sophisticated applications? The
theory of nonlinear complex systems is not a special branch of physics, although
some of its mathematical principles were discovered and first successfully applied
within the context of problems posed by physics. Thus, it is not a kind of traditional
“physicalism” which models the dynamics of lasers, ecological populations, or our
social systems by means of similarly structured laws. Rather, nonlinear systems
theory offers a useful and far-reaching justification for simple phenomenological
models specifying only a few relevant parameters relating to the emergence of
macroscopic phenomena via the nonlinear interactions of microscopic elements in
complex systems.
The behaviour of single elements in large composite systems (atoms, molecules,
etc.) with huge degrees of freedom can neither be forecast nor traced back.
Therefore, in statistical mechanics, the deterministic description of single elements
at the microscopic level is replaced by describing the evolution of probabilistic
distributions. At critical threshold values, phase transitions are analyzed in terms of
appropriate macrovariables—or “order parameters”—in combination with terms
describing rapidly fluctuating random forces due to the influence of additional
microvariables.
By now, it is generally accepted that this scenario, worked out originally for
systems in thermal equilibrium, can also be used to describe the emergence of order
in open dissipative systems far from thermal equilibrium (Landau, Prigogine, Thom,
Haken, etc. [6]; for some details see Sect. 1.5). Dissipative self-organization means
basically that the phase transition lies far from thermal equilibrium. Macroscopic
patterns arise in that case according to, say, Haken’s “slaving principle” from
the nonlinear interactions of microscopic elements when the interaction of the
dissipative (“open”) system with its environment reaches some critical value, e.g.,
in the case of the Bénard convection. In a qualitative way, we may say that old
structures become unstable and, finally, break down in response to a change of the
control parameters, while new structures are achieved. In a more mathematical way,
1 Challenges of Complexity in Chemistry and Beyond 5

the macroscopic view of a complex system is described by the evolution equation


of a global state vector where each component depends on space and time and
where the components may mean the velocity components of a fluid, its temperature
field, etc. At critical threshold values, formerly stable modes become unstable,
while newly established modes are winning the competition in a situation of high
fluctuations and become stable. These modes correspond to the order parameters
which describe the collective behaviour of macroscopic systems.
Yet, we have to distinguish between phase transitions of open systems with the
emergence of order far from thermal equilibrium and phase transitions of closed
systems with the emergence of structure in thermal equilibrium. Phase transitions in
thermal equilibrium are sometimes called “conservative” self-organization or self-
assembly (self-aggregation) processes creating ordered structures mostly, but not
necessarily, with low energy. Most of the contributions to this book deal with such
structures. In the case of a special type of self-assembly process, a kind of slaving
principle can also be observed: A template forces chemical fragments (“slaves”),
like those described in Sect. 1.3, to link in a manner determined by the conductor
(template) [7], whereby a well defined order/structure is obtained. Of particular
interest is the formation of a template from the fragments themselves [8].

1.3 Taking Complexity of Conservative Systems into Account


and a Model System Demonstrating the Creation
of Molecular Complexity by Stepwise Self-Assembly

A further reason for studying the emergence of structures in conservative systems


can be given as follows: The theory of nonlinear complex systems offers a basic
framework for gaining insight into the field of nonequilibrium complex systems
but, in general, it does not adequately cover the requirements necessary for the
adventurous challenge of understanding their specific architectures and, thus, must
be supported by additional experimental and theoretical work. An examination
of biological processes, for example those of a morphogenetic or, in particular,
of an epigenetic nature, leads to the conclusion that here the complexity of
molecular structures is deeply involved, and only through an incorporation of
the instruments and devices of the relevant chemistry is it possible to uncover
their secrets (footnote 1). Complex molecular structures exhibit multi-functionality
and are characterized by a correspondingly complex behaviour which does not
necessarily comply with the most simple principles of mono-causality nor with
those of a simple straightforward cause-effect relationship. The field of genetics
offers an appropriate example: One gene or gene product is often related not only
to one, but to different characteristic phenotype patterns (as the corresponding gene
product (protein) has often to fulfill several functions), a fact that is manifested even
in (the genetics of) rather simple procaryotes.
6 K. Mainzer

Several nondissipative systems, which according to the definition of W. Ostwald


are metastable, show complex behaviour. For example, due to their complex
flexibility, proteins (or large biomolecules) are capable of adapting themselves
not only to varying conditions but also to different functions demanded by their
environment; the characteristics of noncrystalline solids (like glasses), as well
as of crystals grown under nonequilibrium conditions (like snow crystals) are
determined by their case history; spin-glasses exhibit complex magnetic behaviour
[9]; surfaces of solids with their inhomogeneities or disorders2 can, in principle,
be used for storing information; giant molecules (clusters) may exhibit fluctuations
of a structural type.3 Within the novel field of supramolecular magnetochemistry
[10], we can also anticipate complex behaviour, a fact which will require attention
in the future when a unified and interdisciplinarily accepted definition of complex
behaviour of conservative systems is to be formed.
But is elucidating complexity as a whole an unsolvable, inextricable problem,
leading to some type of a circulus vitiosus? Or is it possible to create a theory,
unifying the theories from all fields that would explain different types of self-
organization processes and complexity in general? The key to disentangle these
problems lies in the elucidation of the relation between conservative and dissipative
systems, which in turn is only possible through a clear identification of the relations
between multi-functionality, deterministic dynamics, and stochastic dynamics.4

2
Defects, in general—not only those related to the surface—affect the physical and chemical (e.g.,
catalytical) properties of a solid and play a role in its history. They form the basis of its possible
complex behaviour.
3
Fluctuation—static or nonstatic, equilibrium or nonequilibrium—usually means the deviation of
some quantity from its mean or most probable value. (They played a key role in the evolution.)
Most of the quantities that might be interesting for study exhibit fluctuations, at least on a
microscopic level. Fluctuations of macroscopic quantities manifest themselves in several ways.
They may limit the precision of measurements of the mean value of the quantity, or vice versa, the
identification of the fluctuation may be limited by the precision of the measurement. They are the
cause of some familiar features of our surroundings, or they may cause spectacular effects, such
as the critical opalescence and they play a key role in the nucleation phase of crystal growth (see
Sect. 1.8). Fluctuations or their basic principles which are relevant for chemistry have never been
discussed on a general basis, though they are very common—for example in the form of some
characteristic properties of the very large metal clusters and colloids.
4
During cosmological, chemical, biological, as well as social and cultural evolution, information
increased parallel to the generation of structures of higher complexity. The emergence of relevant
information during the different stages of evolution is comparable with phase transitions during
which structure forms from unordered systems (with concomitant entropy export). Although we
can model certain collective features in natural and social sciences by the complex dynamics of
phase transitions, we have to pay attention to important differences (see Sect. 1.6).
In principle, any piece of information can be encoded by a sequence of zeros and ones, a
so-called f0,1g-sequence. Its (Kolmogorov) complexity can thus be defined as the length of the
minimal f0,1g-sequence in which all that is needed for its reconstruction is included (though,
according to well-known undecidability theorems, there is in general no algorithm to check
whether a given sequence with such a property is of minimal length). According to the broader
definition by C.F. von Weizsäcker, information is a concept intended to provide a scale for
measuring the amount of form encountered in a system, a structural unit, or any other information-
1 Challenges of Complexity in Chemistry and Beyond 7

For a real understanding of phase transitions, we have to deal not only with the
structure and function of elementary building blocks, but also with the properties
which emerge in consequence of the complex organization which such simple
entities may collectively yield when interacting cooperatively. And we have to
realize that such emergent high-level properties are properties which—even though
they can be exhibited by complex systems only and cannot be directly observed
in their component parts when taken individually—are still amenable to scientific
investigation.
These facts are generally accepted and easily recognized with respect to crystal-
lographic symmetry; here, the mathematics describing and classifying the emerging
structures (e.g., the 230 space groups) is readily available [11]. But the situation
becomes more difficult when complex biological systems are to be investigated
where no simple mathematical formalism yet exists to classify all global types of
interaction patterns and where molecular complexity plays a key role: The behaviour
of sufficiently large molecules like enzymes in complex systems can, as yet, not be
predicted computationally nor can it simply be deduced from that of their (simple
chemical) components.
Consequently, one of the most aspiring fields of research at present, offering
challenging and promising perspectives for the future [2] is to learn experimentally
and interpret theoretically how relevant global interaction patterns and the resulting
high-level properties of complex systems emerge by using ‘a’ stepwise procedure,
to build ever more complex systems from simple constituents. This approach
is used, in particular, in the field of supramolecular chemistry [12]—a basic
topic of this book—where some intrinsic propensities of material systems are
investigated. By focusing on phenomena like non-covalent interactions or multiple
weak attractive forces (especially in the case of molecular recognition, host/guest
complexation as well as antigene-antibody interactions), (template-directed) self-
assembly, autocatalysis, artificial, and/or natural self-replication, nucleation, and
control of crystal growth, supramolecular chemistry strives to elucidate strategies for
making constructive use of specific large-scale molecular interactions, characteristic
for mesoscopic molecular complexes and nanoscale architectures.
In order to understand more about related potentialities of material systems,
we should systematically examine, in particular, self-assembly processes. A system
of genuine model character [2,7,13], exhibiting a maximum of potentiality or
disposition “within” the relevant solution, contains very simple units with the shape
of Platonic solids [11]—or chemically speaking, simple mononuclear oxoanions
[14]—as building blocks from which an extremely wide spectrum of complex

carrying entity (“Information ist das Maß einer Menge von Form”). There exists, of course, a great
variety of other definitions of information which have been introduced within different theoretical
contexts and which relate to different scientific disciplines. Philosophically speaking, a qualitative
concept is needed which considers information to be a property neither of structure nor of function
alone, but of that inseparable unit called form, which mediates between both.
8 K. Mainzer

polynuclear clusters can be formed according to a type of unit construction. In this


context, self-assembly or condensation processes can lead us to the fascinating area
of mesoscopic molecular systems.
A significant step forward in this field could be achieved by controlling or direct-
ing the type of linkage of the above-mentioned fragments (units), for instance by a
template, in order to obtain larger systems and then proceeding accordingly to get
even larger ones (with novel and perhaps unusual properties!) by linking the latter
again, and so on. This is possible within the mentioned model system. Basically, we
are dealing with a type of emergence due to the generation of ever more complex
systems. The concept of emergence should be based on a pragmatically restricted
reductionism. The dialectic unit of reduction and emergence can be considered as
a “guideline” when confronted with the task of examining processes which lead to
more and more complex systems, starting with the most simple (chemical) ones [2].
Fundamental questions we have to ask are whether complex near-equilibrium
systems were a necessary basis for the formation of dissipative structures during
evolution and whether it is possible to create molecular complexity stepwise by
a conservative growth process corresponding to the following schematic descrip-
tion [13]:

I III V VII .2N  1/


2 4 6 .2n/

Here, the uneven Roman numerals, 2N  1, represent a series of maturation steps


of a molecular system in growth or development and the even Arabic numerals 2n
stand for ingredients of the solution which react only with the relevant “preliminary”
or intermediate product, 2N  I. The species 2/1 can themselves be products of
self-assembly processes. The target molecule at the “end” of the growth process
would be formed by some kind of (near equilibrium) symmetry breaking steps. The
information it carries could, in principle, be transferred to other systems [13].

1.4 From Complex Molecular Systems to Quantum


Computing

In human technology, information processing is based on computers. In the twen-


tieth century, the invention of computers allowed complex information processing
to be performed outside human brains. The history of computer technology has
involved a sequence of changes from gears to relays to valves to transistors,
integrated circuits and so on. Advanced lithographic techniques can etch logical
gates and wires less than a micron across onto surfaces of silicon chips. Finally,
we will reach the point where logic gates are so small that they consist of only a
few atoms each. On the scale of human perception, classical (non-quantum) laws
of nature are good approximations. But on the atomic and molecular level the laws
1 Challenges of Complexity in Chemistry and Beyond 9

of quantum mechanics become dominant. If computers are to continue to become


faster and therefore smaller, quantum technology must replace or supplement
classical computational technology. Quantum information processing is connected
with new challenges of computational complexity [15].
The basic unit of classical information is the bit. From a physical point of view
a bit is a two-state system. It can be prepared in one of two distinguishable states
representing two logical values 0 or 1. In digital computers, the voltage between the
plates of a capacitor can represent a bit of information. A charge on the capacitor
denotes 1 and the absence of charge denotes 0. One bit of information can also
be encoded using, for example, two different polarizations of light (photons), or
two different electronic states of an atom, or two different magnetic states of a
molecular magnet. According to quantum mechanics, if a bit can exist in either of
two distinguishable states it can also exist in coherent superpositions of them. They
are further states in which an elementary particle, atom, or molecule represent both
values, 0 and 1, simultaneously. That is the sense in which a quantum bit (qubit)
can store both 0 and 1 simultaneously, in arbitrary proportions. But if the qubit is
measured, only one of the two numbers it holds will be detected, at random. John
Bell’s famous theorem and EPR (Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen) experiments forbid that
the bit is predetermined before measurement [16].
The idea of superposition of numbers leads to massive parallel computation. For
example a classical 3-bit register can store exactly one of eight different numbers.
In this case, the register can be in one of the eight possible configurations 000,
010, : : : , 111, representing the numbers 0–7 in binary coding. A quantum register
composed of three qubits can simultaneously store up to eight numbers in a quantum
superposition. If we add more qubits to the register its capacity for storing the
complexity of quantum information increases exponentially. In general n qubits can
store 2n numbers at once. A 250-qubit register of a molecule made of 250 atoms
would be capable of holding more numbers simultaneously than there are atoms in
the known universe. Thus a quantum computer can in a single computational step
perform the same mathematical operation on 2n different input numbers. The result
is a superposition of all the corresponding outputs. But if the register’s contents are
measured, only one of those numbers can be seen. In order to accomplish the same
task a classical computer must repeat the computation 2n times, or use 2n different
processors working in parallel.
At first, it seems to be a pity that the laws of quantum physics only allow us to
see one of the outcomes of 2n computations. From a logical point of view, quantum
inference provides a final result that depends on all 2n of the intermediate results.
A remarkable quantum algorithm of Lov Grover uses this logical dependence
to improve the chance of finding the desired result. Grover’s
p quantum algorithm
enables to search an unsorted list of n items in only n steps [17]. Consider, for
example, searching for a specific telephone number in a directory containing a
million entries, stored in a computer’s memory in alphabetical order of names. It
is obvious that no classical algorithm can improve the brute-force method of simply
scanning the entries one by one until the given number is found which will, on
average, require 500,000 memory accesses. A quantum computer can examine all
10 K. Mainzer

the entries simultaneously, in the time of a single access. But if it can only print out
the result at that point, there is no improvement over the classical algorithm. Only
one of the million computational paths would have checked the entry we are looking
for. Thus, there would be a probability of only one in a million that we obtain that
information if we measured the computer’s state. But if that quantum information
is left unmeasured in the computer, a further quantum operation can cause that
information to affect other paths. In this way the information about the desired
entry is spread, through quantum inference, to more paths. It turns out p that if the
inference-generating operation is repeated about 1,000 times, (in general, n times)
the information about which entry contains the desired number will be accessible
to measurement with probability 0.5. Therefore repeating the entire algorithm a few
more times will find the desired entry with a probability close to 1.
An even more spectacular quantum algorithm was found by Peter Shor [18] for
factorizing large integers efficiently. In order to factorize a number with n decimal
digits, any classical computer is estimated to need a number of steps growing
exponentially with n. The factorization of 1,000-digit numbers by classical means
would take many times as long the estimated age of the universe. In contrast,
quantum computers could factor 1,000-digit numbers in a fraction of a second.
The execution time would grow only as the cube of the number of digits. Once
a quantum factorization machine is built, all classical cryptographic systems will
become insecure, especially the RSA (Rivest, Shamir and Adleman) algorithm
which is today often used to protect electronic bank accounts [19].
Historically, the potential power of quantum computation was first proclaimed in
a talk of Richard Feynman at the first Conference on the Physics of Computation
at MIT in 1981 [15]. He observed that it appeared to be impossible in general to
simulate the evolution of a quantum system on a classical computer in an efficient
way. The computer simulation of quantum evolution involves an exponential
slowdown in time, compared with the natural evolution. The amount of classical
information required to describe the evolving quantum state is exponentially larger
than that required to describe the corresponding classical system with a similar
accuracy. But, instead of regarding this intractability as an obstacle, Feynman
considered it an opportunity. He explained that if it requires that much computation
to find what will happen in a multi-particle interference experiment, then the amount
of such an experiment and measuring the outcome is equivalent to performing a
complex computation.
A quantum computer is a more or less complex network of quantum logical
gates. As the number of quantum gates in a network increases, we quickly run into
serious practical problems. The more interacting qubits are involved, the harder it
tends to handle the computational technology. One of the most important problems
is that of preventing the surrounding environment from being affected by the
interactions that generate quantum superpositions. The more components there are,
the more likely it is that quantum information will spread outside the quantum
computer and be lost into the environment. The process is called decoherence. Due
to supramolecular chemistry, there has been some evidence that decoherence in
complex molecules, such as molecular nano-magnets, might not be such a severe
problem.
1 Challenges of Complexity in Chemistry and Beyond 11

A molecular magnet containing vanadium and oxygen atoms has been described
[5] which could act as a carrier of quantum information. It is more than one
nanometer in diameter and has an electronic spin structure in which each of the
vanadium atoms, with their net spin ½, couple strongly into three groups of five. The
magnet has a spin doublet ground and triplet spin excited state. ESR (Electronic Spin
Resonance) spectroscopy was used to observe the degree of coherence possible.
The prime source of decoherence is the ever-present nuclear spins associated with
the 15 vanadium nuclei. The experimental results of [5] pinpoint the sources of
decoherence in that molecular system, and so take the first steps toward eliminating
them. The identification of nuclear spin as a serious decoherence issue hints at the
possibility of using zero-spin isotopes in qubit materials. The control of complex
coherent spin states of molecular magnets, in which interactions can be tuned by
well defined chemical changes of the metal cluster ligand spheres, could finally lead
to a way to avoid the roadblock of decoherence.
Independent of its realization with elementary particles, atoms, or molecules,
quantum computing provides deep consequences for computational universality and
computational complexity of nature. Quantum mechanics provides new modes of
computation, including algorithms that perform tasks that no classical computer
can perform at all. One of the most relevant questions within classical computing,
and the central subject of computational complexity is whether a given problem is
easy to solve or not. A basic issue is the time needed to perform the computation,
depending on the size of the input data. According to Church’s thesis, any (classical)
computer is equivalent to and can be simulated by a universal Turing-machine.
Computational time is measured by the number of elementary computational
steps of a universal Turing-machine. Computational problems can be divided
into complexity classes according to their computational time of solution. The
most fundamental one is the class P which contains all problems which can be
computed by (deterministic) universal Turing machine in polynomial time, i.e. the
computational time is bounded from above by polynomial. The class NP contains all
problems which can be solved by non-deterministic Turing-machine in polynomial
time. Non-deterministic machines may guess a computational step by random. It is
obvious by definition that P is a subset of NP. The other inclusion, however, is rather
non-trivial. The conjecture is that P ¤ NP holds and great parts of complexity theory
are based on it. Its proof or disproof represents one of the biggest open questions in
theoretical informatics.
In quantum theory of computation the Turing principle demands the universal
quantum computer can simulate the behavior of any finite physical system [20].
A stronger result that was conjectured but never proved in the classical case demands
that such simulations can always be performed in a time that is at most a polynomial
function of the time for the physical evolution. That is true in the quantum case.
In the future, quantum computers will prove theorems by methods that neither a
human brain nor any other arbiter will ever be able to check step-by-step, since
if the sequence of propositions corresponding to such a proof were printed out, the
paper would fill the observable universe many time over. In that case, computational
problems would be shifted into lower complexity classes: intractable problems of
classical computability would become practically solvable.
12 K. Mainzer

1.5 Information and Probabilistic Complexity

A dynamical system can be considered an information processing machine, com-


puting a present or future state as output from an initial past state of input. Thus,
the computational efforts to determine the states of a system characterize the
computational complexity of a dynamical system. The transition from regular to
chaotic systems corresponds to increasing computational problems, according to the
computational degrees in the theory of computational complexity. In statistical me-
chanics, the information flow of a dynamical system describes the intrinsic evolution
of statistical correlations between its past and future states. The Kolmogorov-Sinai
(KS) entropy is an extremely useful concept in studying the loss of predictable
information in dynamical systems, according to the complexity degrees of their
attractors. Actually, the KS-entropy yields a measure of the prediction uncertainty
of a future state provided the whole past is known (with finite precision) [21].
In the case of fixed points and limit cycles, oscillating or quasi-oscillating
behavior, there is no uncertainty or loss of information, and the prediction of a
future state can be computed from the past. In chaotic systems with sensitive
dependence on the initial states, there is a finite loss of information for predictions
of the future, according to the decay of correlations between the past states and
the future state of prediction. The finite degree of uncertainty of a predicted state
increases linearly to its number of steps in the future, given the entire past. But in
the case of noise, the KS-entropy becomes infinite, which means a complete loss of
predicting information corresponding to the decay of all correlations (i.e., statistical
independence) between the past and the noisy state of the future. The degree of
uncertainty becomes infinite.
The complexity degree of noise can also be classified by Fourier analysis of time
series in signal theory. Early in the nineteenth century, the French mathematician
Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Fourier (1768–1830) proved that any continuous signal (time
series) of finite duration can be represented as a superposition of overlapping
periodic oscillations of different frequencies and amplitudes. The frequency f is the
reciprocal of the length of the period which means the duration 1/f of a complete
cycle. It measures how many periodic cycles there are per unit time.
Each signal has a spectrum, which is a measure of how much variability the
signal exhibits corresponding to each of its periodic components. The spectrum
is usually expressed as the square of the magnitude of the oscillations at each
frequency. It indicates the extent to which the magnitudes of separate periodic
oscillations contribute to the total signal. If the signal is periodic with period 1/f,
then its spectrum is everywhere zero except at the isolated value f. In the case of
a signal that is a finite sum of periodic oscillations the spectrum will exhibit a
finite number of values at the frequencies of the given oscillations that make up
the signal.
The opposite of periodicity is a signal whose values are statistically independent
and uncorrelated. In signal theory, the distribution of independent and uncorrelated
values is called white noise. It has contributions from oscillations whose amplitudes
1 Challenges of Complexity in Chemistry and Beyond 13

Fig. 1.1 Complexity degrees of 1/fb – noise with white noise (b D 0), pink noise (b D 1), red noise
(b D 2), and black noise (b D 3) [22] (Color figure online)

are uniform over a wide range of frequencies. In this case the spectrum has a
constant value, flat throughout the frequency range. The contributions of periodic
components cannot be distinguished.
But in nonlinear dynamics of complex systems we are mainly interested in
complex series of data that conform to neither of these extremes. They consist
of many superimposed oscillations at different frequencies and amplitudes, with a
spectrum that is approximately proportional to 1/f b for some b greater than zero. In
that case, the spectrum varies inversely with the frequency. Their signals are called
1/f – noise. Figure 1.1 illustrates examples of signals with spectra of pink noise
(b D 1), red noise (b D 2), and black noise (b D 3). White noise is designated by
b D 0. The degree of irregularity in the signals decreases as b becomes larger.
For b greater than 2 the correlations are persistent, because upwards and
downwards trends tend to maintain themselves. A large excursion in one time
interval is likely to be followed by another large excursion in the next time interval
of the same length. The time series seem to have a long-term memory. With b less
than 2 the correlations are antipersistent in the sense that an upswing now is likely
14 K. Mainzer

to be followed shortly by a downturn, and vice versa. When b increases from the
antipersistent to the persistent case, the curves Fig. 1.1 become increasingly less
jagged.
The spectrum gets progressively smaller as frequency increases. Therefore, large-
amplitude fluctuations are associated with long-wavelength (low-frequency) oscil-
lations, and smaller fluctuations correspond to short-wavelength (high-frequency)
cycles. For nonlinear dynamics pink noise with b roughly equal to 1 is particular
interesting, because it characterizes processes between regular order of black noise
and complete disorder of white noise. For pink noise the fraction of total variability
in the data between two frequencies f1 < f2 equals the percentage variability within
the interval cf1 < cf2 for any positive constant c. Therefore, there must be fewer
large-magnitude fluctuations at lower frequencies than there are small-magnitude
oscillations at high frequencies. As the time series increases in length, more and
more low-frequency but high-magnitude events are uncovered because cycles of
longer periods are included. The longest cycles have periods comparable to the
duration of the sampled data. Like all fractal patterns, small changes of signals are
superimposed on larger ones with self-similarity at all scales.
In electronics, 1/f -spectra are known as flicker-noise, differing from the uniform
sound of white noise with the distinction of individual signals [23]. The high-
frequency occurrences are hardly noticed contrary to the large magnitude events.
A remarkable application of 1/f -spectra delivers different kinds of music. The
fluctuations of loudness as well as the intervals between successive notes in the
music of Bach have a 1/f -spectrum. Contrary to Bach’s pink-noise music, white-
noise music has only uncorrelated successive values. The brain fails in finding any
pattern in a structureless and irritating sound. On the other side, black-noise music
seems too predictable and boring, because the persistent signals depend strongly
on past values. Obviously, impressing music finds a balance between order and
disorder, regularity and surprise.
1/f -spectra are typical for processes that organize themselves to a critical state
at which many small interactions can trigger the emergence of a new unpredicted
phenomenon. Earthquakes, atmospheric turbulence, stock market fluctuations, and
physiological processes of organisms are typical examples. Self-organization, emer-
gence, chaos, fractality, and self-similarity are features of complex systems with
nonlinear dynamics [24]. The fact that 1/f -spectra are measures of stochastic noise
emphasizes a deep relationship of information theory and systems theory, again:
all kinds of complex systems can be considered information processing systems. In
the following, distributions of correlated and unrelated signals are analyzed in the
theory of probability. White noise is characterized by the normal distribution of the
Gaussian bell curve. Pink noise with a 1/f -spectrum is decisively non-Gaussian. Its
patterns are footprints of complex self-organizing systems.
In complex systems, the behavior of single elements is often completely un-
known and therefore considered a random process. In this case, it is not necessary to
distinguish between chance that occurs because of some hidden order that may exist
and chance that is the result of blind lawfulness. A stochastic process is assumed
to be a succession of unpredictable events. Nevertheless, the whole process can be
1 Challenges of Complexity in Chemistry and Beyond 15

characterized by laws and regularities, or with the words of A.N. Kolmogorov, the
founder of modern theory of probability: “The epistemological value of probability
theory is based on the fact that chance phenomena, considered collectively and on
a grand scale, create non-random regularity.” [25] In tossing a coin, for example,
head and tail are each assigned a probability of 1:2 whenever the coin seems to be
balanced. This is because one expects that the event of a head or tail is equally likely
in each flip. Therefore, the average number of heads or tails in a large number of
tosses should be close to 1/2, according to the law of large numbers. This is what
Kolmogorov meant.
The outcomes of a stochastic process can be distributed with different probabil-
ities. Binary outcomes are designated by probability p and 1  p. In the simplest
case of p D 1/2, there is no propensity for one occurrence to take place over another,
and the outcomes are said to be uniformly distributed. For instance, the six faces of
a balanced die are all equally likely to occur in a toss, and so the probability of
each face is 1/6. In this case, a random process is thought of as a succession of
independent and uniformly distributed outcomes. In order to turn this intuition into
a more precise statement, we consider coin-tossing with two possible outcomes
labeled zero or one. The number of ones in n trials is denoted by rn , and the sample
average rn /n represents the fraction of ones in n trials. Then, according to the law of
large numbers, the probability of the event that rn /n is within some fixed distance to
1/2 will tend to one as n increases without bound.
The distribution of values of samples clusters about 1/2 with a dispersion
that appears roughly bell-shaped. The bell-shaped Gaussian curve illustrates Kol-
mogorov’s statement that lawfullness emerges when large ensembles of random
events are considered. The same general bell shape appears for several games with
different average outcome like playing with coins, throwing dice, or dealing cards.
Some bells may be squatter, and some narrower. But each has the same mathematical
Gaussian formula to describe it, requiring just two numbers to differentiate it
from any other: the mean or average error and the variance or standard deviation,
expressing how widely the bell spreads.
For both independence and finite variance of the involved random variables,
the central limit theorem holds: a probability distribution gradually converges to
the Gaussian shape. If the conditions of independence and finite variance of the
random variables are not satisfied, other limit theorems must be considered. The
study of limit theorems uses the concept of the basin of attraction of a probability
distribution. All the probability density functions define a functional space. The
Gaussian probability function is a fixed point attractor of stochastic processes
in that functional space. The set of probability density functions that fulfill the
requirements of the central limit theorem with independence and finite variance
of random variables constitutes the basin of attraction of the Gaussian distribution.
The Gaussian attractor is the most important attractor in the functional space, but
other attractors also exist.
Gaussian (and Cauchy) distributions are examples of stable distributions. A
stable distribution has the property that it does not change its functional form. The
French mathematician Paul Lévy (1886–1971) determined the entire class of stable
16 K. Mainzer

distributions [3]. Contrary to the Gaussian distribution, the non-Gaussian (“Lévy”)


stable stochastic processes have infinite variance. Their asymptotic behaviour is
characterized by distributions PL (x)  x(1C˛) with power-law behaviour for large
values of x. Contrary to the smooth Gaussian bell-curve, their (“fat”) tails indicate
fluctuations with a leptokurtic shape. Thus, they do not have a characteristic scale,
but they can be rescaled with self-similarity. Besides the Gaussian distribution,
non-Gaussian stable distributions can also be attractors in the functional space of
probability density functions.
There is an infinite number of attractors, comprising the set of all the stable distri-
butions. Attractors classify the functional space of probability density functions into
regions with different complexity. The complexity of stochastic processes is different
for the Gaussian attractor and the stable non-Gaussian attractors. In the Gaussian
basin of attraction, finite variance random variables are present. But in the basins
of attraction of stable non-Gaussian distributions, random variables with infinite
variance can be found. Therefore, distributions with power-law tails are present in
the stable non-Gaussian basins of attraction (compare reference 22, chapter 5.4).
Power-law distributions and infinite variance indicate high complexity of
stochastic behaviour. Stochastic processes with infinite variance, although well
defined mathematically, are extremely difficult to use and, moreover, raise
fundamental questions when applied to real systems. In closed physical systems of
equilibrium statistical mechanics variance is often related to the system temperature.
In this case, infinite variance implies an infinite or undefined temperature.
Nevertheless, power-law distributions are used in the description of open systems.
They have increasing importance in describing, for example, complex economic
and physiological systems. Actually, the first application of a power-law distribution
was introduced in economics by Pareto’s law of incomes. Turbulence in complex
financial markets is also characterized by power-law distributions with fat tails. In
financial systems, an infinite variance would complicate the important task of risk
estimation.

1.6 A System of High Complexity: Human Society


and Economy

Obviously, the theory of complex systems and their phase transitions offers a
successful formalism to model the emergence of order in Nature. The question arises
how to select, interpret, and quantify the appropriate variables of complex models
in the social sciences. In this case, the possibility to test the complex dynamics
of the model is restricted: In general, we cannot experiment with human society.
Yet, computer simulations with varying parameters may deliver useful scenarios to
recognize global trends of a society under all sorts of conditions.
Evidently, human society is a complex multi-component system composed
of diverse elements. It is an open system because there exist not only internal
interactions through materials and information exchange (“ideas”) between the
1 Challenges of Complexity in Chemistry and Beyond 17

individual members of a society, but also an interchange with the external environ-
ment, nature, and civilization. At the microscopic level (e.g., micro-sociology and
micro-economy), the individual “local” states of human behaviour are characterized
by different attitudes. Changes of society are related to changes in attitudes of its
members. Global change of behaviour is modeled by introducing macrovariables in
terms of attitudes of social groups (compare reference 22 chapter 8) [26].
In social sciences, one distinguishes strictly between biological evolution and the
history of human society. The reason is that the development of nations, markets,
and cultures is assumed to be guided by the intentional behaviour of humans, i.e.,
human decisions based on intentions, values, etc. From a microscopic viewpoint
we may, of course, observe single individuals contributing with their activities
to the collective macrostate of the society representing cultural, political, and
economic order (and, hopefully, determined by the value of corresponding “order
parameters”).
Yet, macrostates of a society do, of course, not simply average over its parts.
Its order parameters strongly influence the individuals of the society by orientating
(“enslaving”) their activities and by activating or deactivating their attitudes and
capabilities. This kind of feedback is typical for complex dynamical systems.
If the control parameters of the environmental conditions attain certain critical
values due to internal or external interactions, the macrovariables may move into
an unstable domain out of which highly divergent alternative paths are possible.
Tiny unpredictable microfluctuations (e.g., actions of very few influential people,
scientific discoveries, new technologies) may decide which of the diverging paths
society will follow.
A particular measurement problem of sociology arises from the fact that sociol-
ogists observing and recording the collective behaviour of society are themselves
members of the social system they observe. Sociologists strive to define and to
record quantitatively measurable parameters of collective behaviour, using all sorts
of “objective”, that is, empirical and quantitative methods. But, while the world of
macroscopic physical phenomena will certainly not be changed in a scientifically
relevant way by the fact that it is being explored and investigated, this does not
necessarily hold true for social systems—a further justification for the obvious fact
that scientific procedures used in classical physics are not simply transferable to
the study of human social behaviour. This well-known sociological phenomenon
of “self-observation in a society” confirms the complex dynamics of a society, i.e.,
the nonlinear feedback between individual activities at the microscopic level and its
global macroscopic order states.
While systems in physics and chemistry are often taken for granted and are
considered to be arbitrarily delimitable units of consideration, social systems cannot
even be defined (and much less analyzed and studied) without simultaneously
considering their environment and delineating their boundaries from their interval
dynamics as well as from their interactions with all those features that do not pertain
to the system. The problems which obviously arise in this context are carefully
analyzed by N. Luhmann in his well-known system theory approach [27]. Problems
of a similar nature arise when considering biological processes. In addition, it might
18 K. Mainzer

be worthwhile to take into account also the epistemological aspects discussed by


N. Luhmann even in connection with the study of chemical and physical systems.
A case in point is, for instance, the well-known fact that the dynamics of a protein
cannot be understood without studying it in solution.
Social migration, economic crashes, and ecological catastrophes are very dra-
matic topics today, demonstrating the danger of global world-wide effects. It is
not sufficient to have good intentions without considering the nonlinear effects of
single decisions. Linear thinking and acting may provoke global chaos although
we act locally with the best intentions. In this sense, even if we are not able to
quantify all relevant parameters of complex social dynamics, the cognitive value of
an appropriate model will consist in useful insights into the role and effect of certain
trends relative to the global dynamics of our society. In other words, the operational
value of such an approach depends upon the possibility of using the model in order
to examine hypothetical courses of our society.
In economics as well as in financial theory uncertainty and information incom-
pleteness prevent exact predictions. A widely accepted belief in financial theory
is that time series of asset prices are unpredictable. Chaos theory has shown that
unpredictable time series can arise from deterministic nonlinear systems. The results
obtained in the study of physical, chemical, and biological systems raise the question
whether the time evolution of asset prices in financial markets might be due to
underlying nonlinear deterministic dynamics of a finite number of variables. If we
analyze financial markets with the tools of nonlinear dynamics, we may be inter-
ested in the reconstruction of an attractor. In time series analysis, it is rather difficult
to reconstruct an underlying attractor and its dimension d. For chaotic systems with
d > 3, it is a challenge to distinguish between a chaotic time evolution and a random
process, especially if the underlying deterministic dynamics are unknown. From
an empirical point of view, the discrimination between randomness and chaos is
often impossible. Time evolution of an asset price depends on all the information
affecting the investigated asset. It seems unlikely that all this information can easily
be described by a limited number of nonlinear deterministic equations.
Therefore, asserts price dynamics are assumed to be stochastic processes. An
early key-concept to understand stochastic processes was the random walk. The first
theoretical description of a random walk in the natural sciences was performed in
1905 by Einstein’s analysis of molecular interactions. But the first mathematization
of a random walk was not realized in physics, but in social sciences by the
French mathematician, Louis Jean Bachelier (1870–1946). In 1900 he published his
doctoral thesis with the title “Théorie de la Spéculation” [28]. During that time, most
market analysis looked at stock and bond prices in a causal way: Something happens
as cause and prices react as effect. In complex markets with thousands of actions and
reactions, a causal analysis is even difficult to work out afterwards, but impossible
to forecast beforehand. One can never know everything. Instead, Bachelier tried to
estimate the odds that prices will move. He was inspired by an analogy between the
diffusion of heat through a substance and how a bond price wanders up and down.
In his view, both are processes that cannot be forecast precisely. At the level of
particles in matter or of individuals in markets, the details are too complicated. One
1 Challenges of Complexity in Chemistry and Beyond 19

can never analyze exactly how every relevant factor interrelate to spread energy or
to energize spreads. But in both fields, the broad pattern of probability describing
the whole system can be seen.
Bachelier introduced a stochastic model by looking at the bond market as a fair
game. In tossing a coin, each time one tosses the coin the odds of heads or tails
remain 1:2, regardless of what happened on the prior toss. In that sense, tossing
coins is said to have no memory. Even during long runs of heads or tails, at each toss
the run is as likely to end as to continue. In the thick of the trading, price changes
can certainly look that way. Bachelier assumed that the market had already taken
account of all relevant information, and that prices were in equilibrium with supply
matched to demand, and seller paired with buyer. Unless some new information
came along to change that balance, one would have no reason to expect any change
in price. The next move would as likely be up as down.
In order to illustrate this smooth distribution, Bachelier plotted all of a bond’s
price-changes over a month or year onto a graph. In the case of independent and
identically distributed price-changes, they spread out in the well-known bell-curve
shape of a normal (“Gaussian”) distribution: the many small changes clustered in
the center of the bell, and the few big changes at the edges. Bachelier assumed that
price changes behave like the random walk of molecules in a Brownian motion.
Long before Bachelier and Einstein, the Scottish botanist Robert Brown had studied
the erratic way that tiny pollen grains jiggled about in a sample of water. Einstein
explained it by molecular interactions and developed equations very similar to
Bachelier’s equation of bond-price probability, although Einstein never knew that.
It is a remarkable coincidence that the movement of security prices, the motion
of molecules, and the diffusion of heat are described by mathematically analogous
models. In short, Bachelier’s model depends on the three hypotheses of (1) statistic
independence (“Each change in price appears independently from the last”), (2)
statistic stationarity of price changes, and (3) normal distribution (“Price changes
follow the proportions of the Gaussian bell curve”).
But the Dow charts demonstrate that the index changes of financial markets have
no smooth distribution of a Gaussian bell curve (compare references 24 and 22,
chapter 7.4). Price fluctuations of real markets are not mild, but wild. That means
that stocks are riskier than assumed according to normal distribution. With the bell
curve in mind, stock portfolios may be put together incorrectly, risk management
fails, and trading strategies are misguided. Further on, the Dow chart shows that,
with globalization increasing, we will see more crises. Therefore, our whole focus
must be on the extremes now.
On a qualitative level, financial markets seem to be similar to turbulence in
nature. Wind is an example of natural turbulence which can be studied in a wind
tunnel. When the rotor at the tunnel’s head spins slowly, the wind inside blows
smoothly, and the currents glide in long, steady lines, planes, and curves. Then,
as the rotor accelerates, the wind inside the tunnel picks up speed and energy. It
suddenly breaks into sharp and intermittent gusts. Eddies form, and a cascade of
whirlpools, scaled from great to small, spontaneously appears. The same emergence
of patterns and attractors can be studied in the fluid dynamics of water.
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hablauan, ni en el puesto ni
meneo mostrauan algun
descuydo deshonesto, y
solamente se reyan de aquellos
que hasta entonçes por solo el
hábito, estado y opinion
venerauan honrrauan y obedeçian
pensando que en si fuessen de
algun valor y preçio: y agora se
acusan por verdaderos ydiotas
engañados, pues ven por
experiençia desto sus desmanes,
su poco recogimiento y poca
vergüença. Quando los ven tan
desordenados, descomedidos en
su comer y beber, tan infames y
disolutos en sus injurias, con
tantas vozes y grita por tan façiles
y ligeras ocasiones venir á las
manos y cabello; y sobre todo me
admiraua ver aquel monstruo de
naturaleza Alcidamas cura de San
Nicholas tan desbaratado en su
vibir y costumbres, obras,
conuersaçion, que nos dexó
confusos y admirados a quantos
estauamos alli. Sin empacho
ninguno de las dueñas hazia
cosas de su cuerpo y partes
vergonçosas, y dezia de su
lengua que avn avria empacho de
lo dezir y hazer vn muy profano
joglar.
Miçilo.—Por çierto que me has
admirado, gallo, con tu tan
horrenda historia, o por mejor
dezir, atroz tragedia. ¡Quán
comun cosa es faltar los hombres
de su mayor obligaçion!
Supliquemos a nuesto Señor los
haga tan buenos que no
herremos en los imitar, y
merezçan con su ofiçio inpetrar
graçia de nuestro Señor para sí, y
para nos, y auisemos de oy más a
todos los perlados que pues en la
iglesia son pastores deste ganado
no permitan que en los tales
auctos y çelebridades de misas
nueuas aya estos ayuntamientos,
porque vengan a tanto desman.
Gallo.—Ya, Miçilo, quiero dexar
guerras y contiendas y heridas y
muertes de honbres con las
cuales te he escandalizado hasta
aqui, y quiero que agora oyas la
más alta y más feliçissima
nauegaçion que nunca a honbres
aconteçio. En fin oyras vna
admirable ventura que te quiero
contar, la qual juntamente con el
prospero suçeso te dara tanto
deleyte que holgarás
grandemente de le [980] oyr; y
pues es ya venido el dia abre la
tienda, que en el canto que se
sigue lo oyras.

Fin del deçimo septimo canto del


gallo.
NOTAS:
[845] G., segun tengo entendido por tu esperimentada narraçion
es la mejor y más segura.
[846] me ha pareçido.
[847] G., que comunmente en semejantes lugares suelen passar
[848] G., monstruosas y prodigiosas.
[849] G., puedan entretener el tiempo.
[850] R., Jambulo.
[851] R., de oçeano.
[852] G., escriuan.
[853] G., y.
[854] G., del dezir.
[855] G., poeta.
[856] G., con tu.
[857] G., prometiste.
[858] G., en ello hago ser publico el desorden y poca templança
con que esta gente consagrada toma semejantes ayuntamientos;
los quales les auian de ser vedados por sus perlados y juezes, y
a estos querria yo ser destos relactor, porque lo podrian remediar,
antes que no a tí; porque en contartelo solo doy ocasion con mi
lengua a que auiendo tú plazer, te rias y mofes de aquella
consagrada caterua qne está en la tierra en lugar de la diuina
magestad.
[859] G., que jures de no lo.
[860] G., será.
[861] G., el fundamento.
[862] G., fiesta.
[863] G., tenía.
[864] G., llamaua.
[865] G., que no se si le conoçiste. Este mançebo.
[866] G., y el.
[867] G., de su parte.
[868] G., eran muchos.
[869] G., de la historia.
[870] G., del año.
[871] G., solenidad.
[872] G., boluimonos.
[873] G., alli.
[874] G., auia otra.
[875] G., el missa cantano.
[876] G., otra mano.
[877] G., de San Julian.
[878] G., su.
[879] G., gran.
[880] G., se sento.
[881] G., fueron.
[882] G., por ser más viejo.
[883] G., que la sçiençia son canas en el hombre.
[884] G., asentó.
[885] G., asento.
[886] Y luego dixo.
[887] G., de la Gramatica.
[888] R. (Nota marginal) Gramatica. Figura antiptosis est casus
pro casu posi.
[889] G., notandolos de ambiçiosos, glotones y de poco sosiego:
fingiendose todos tener cuenta con el plato, pero más la tenian
con lo que entre los clerigos pasaua.
[890] G., tras.
[891] G., que rodauan.
[892] G., pastel.
[893] G., de la sala.
[894] G., agora, como sali.
[895] G., apresuré por acabar presto lo misa, que avu no me
sufria.
[896] G., ser.
[897] G., entre.
[898] R. (Tachado) has de saber que.
[899] G., la arroxo.
[900] G., quebro.
[901] G., y no.
[902] G., rodeaua.
[903] G., por todas.
[904] G., a las.
[905] G., grande.
[906] G., prestando y cambiando auia adquerido.
[907] G, y vituperaua.
[908] G., mugeres; y ansi, pensandolo remediar Aristeneto
dandole muy bien a beber y que con esto le haria su amigo, ansi
mando.
[909] G., y en alta voz, que todos con silençio le oyeron,
hablando con la muger de Aristeneto, madre de misa cantano:
señora Magençia (que ansi se llamaua) yo bebo a tí; y mira que
has de beber otro tanto del vaso como yo bebiere, so pena que
no lo beuiendo se arroxe lo que quedare sobre ty; y alçando la
copa bebio della casi vn azumbre y luego la mando tornar a
enchir, y estendiendo el braço la dio a Magençia, diziendola que
sino beuia incurreria en la pena puesta y que la abrá de executar;
y Magençia encogiendose con gran verguença, diziendo que no
acostumbraua beuer, reusó el vaso con miedo que Alçidamas no
la afrontasse; y teniendo lo mesmo los combidados trabajaron
por le apartar fuera, pero él juró por sus ordenes que sino daua
vn fiador que beuiesse por ella que se lo auia de derramar
acuestas; y el cura de San Miguel, que alcançaua buena parte
deste menester se leuantó y dando a entender que lo hazia por
defender a la señora huespeda y empedir que no la afrontasse
Alçidamas, pues este se leuantó de su lugar y saliendo en el
medio de la sala dixo a Alçidamas: dame acá la copa, que yo
quiero cumplir por la señora Magençia; y ansi tomando el vaso en
sus manos beuio vn terrible golpe, que a juizio de todos igualó.
[910] G., amago determinado de arrojar sobre Magençia lo que
en el vaso quedó, pero el cura.
[911] G., tomó.
[912] G., y hizole.
[913] G., y Eustochio, cura de San Martin, porque a todos auia
injuriado con sus donayres; y por el contrario, en fabor de
Alçidamas, por ser sus vezinos y amigos viejos se leuantaron el
sacristan de San Miguel y el cura de San Juan y el cura de San
Pedro y el cura de Santa Marina.
Miçilo.—Que, alli vino el cura de San Pedro? no faltarian
gargajos y importunidad en su vejez.
Gallo.—Alli vino con asco y desgraçia de todos; que en vna silla
le truxieron porque estaua muy enfermo.
[914] G., arroxadas.
[915] G., como graniço.
[916] G., en.
[917] G., a que las damas çerrassen las orejas y avn los ojos.
[918] G., y ansi a este tono si.
[919] G., este tiempo.
[920] G., con vna cuerda.
[921] G., de la sala, començaron.
[922] G., de sautoriçada.
[923] G., y proçedio el.
[924] G., por mi amor.
[925] G., hazian.
[926] G., dexauan.
[927] G., limpiarse el.
[928] G., suçias maneras de festejar, porque avn viles joglares se
desdeñarian tratarlas, por no perder credito con el auditorio.
Estando en esto que todos callauan.
[929] Falta este epígrafe en el ms.
[930] G., ayas.
[931] G., mio.
[932] G., fue infamado con peligro y jatura de mi honrra.
[933] G., que tenía.
[934] G., injurias.
[935] G., los.
[936] diziendo tú a todos que.
[937] G., los.
[938] G., en.
[939] G., ay estan en tu.
[940] G., bueluas.
[941] G., lo.
[942] G., dixe.
[943] G., la oyste.
[944] G., començaron todos a murmurar.
[945] G., vnos dezian que era aguda, a lo menos los amigos de
Etemocles, y dezian que era muy sabiamiente escripta, que bien
pareçia ser de letrado. Los contrarios dezian que no era muy
cuerda y acusauan a Etemocles de hombre gloton y dezian que
la auia escripto como afrontado por no le aver combidado a la
fiesta y comida. Estando...
[946] G., graciosa.
[947] G., representó ingeniosamente la proçesion que hacen los
portugueses el dia de Corpus Cristi y predicó el sermon que ellos
suelen predicar el dia que celebran la batalla del Aljubarrota.
[948] G., despues tañendo con su laud començó en copla de
repente a motejar a todos quantos estauan en la mesa, sin
perjudicar ni afrontar a ninguno, y reyendo donayres.
[949] G., con el.
[950] G., dexando el.
[951] G., procuró por le.
[952] G., tomo.
[953] G., osasse.
[954] G., y cruel como de la Farsalia.
[955] G., acudio.
[956] G., y que el xoglar auia dado a Alçidamas con el palo vn
gran golpe que le descalabró mal. De manera que todos aquellos
curas fueron por el semejante heridos, qual en la cabeça, qual en
el rostro; por lo qual fue neçesario que todos los lleuassen a sus
posadas a los curar. Pues echada toda aquella gente arriscada
fuera de la sala, se alçaron las mesas y se tornaron los que
quedaron a sosegar. Pero como el diablo nunca sosiega de meter
mal y dar ocasion a que suçeda siempre peor, suçedio que
Cleodemo, padrino, boluiendo a la carta de Etemocles, porque
sintio afrontado a Aristeneto y avn a aquellos religiosos que junto
a si tenía, dixo: ¿qué os parecede las elegantes razones de
Etemocles?
[957] G., torta.
[958] G., el.
[959] G., la.
[960] G., que la carta venia elegante muy cuerdamente escripto y
como de letrado.
[961] G., por lo qual.
[962] G., principalmente porque en lo que yo he dicho ninguna
injuria le hize, pues de todos es conoçido Etimoclides bien de
quantos aqui estan, y no me marauillo que responda por él, pues
ambos tienen hecho liga y monipodio en el trato de sus
feligreses, y ansi an jurado ambos a dos de no enterrar a ninguno
en su feligresia.
[963] G., le dio con la copa de vino en el rostro, que le enuistio
todo del, y luego Zenotemides tomó a Cleodemo por la
sobrepelliz y le truxo al suelo y hizole dar con el rostro y cabeça
en vn vanco, de que mal le descalabró. En fin los frayles y misa
cantano y los demas los apartaron, y fue neçesario que
Cleodemo se fuesse luego a su casa a curar, y tambien
Zenothemides se fue. Pues purgada la casa de todos aquellos
arriscados y belicosos capitanes, porque todos fueron de tres
recuentros heridos y sacados del campo, como te he contado...
[964] G., enbobeçidos.
[965] G., ver en gente de tanto exemplo tanto desman.
[966] G., pensaron que hazer.
[967] G., como fue echada.
[968] G., llegosse.
[969] G., Dionico al misa cantano.
[970] G., entiznole.
[971] G., y llenaronle fuera de.
[972] G., del.
[973] G., homo. Misçilo. Propriamente lo pudo dezir.
[974] G., todo el lugar.
[975] G., Dime, gallo, en el entretanto que estas cosas pasauan,
¿que pensauas tú?
[976] G., cosas se çelebrauan pensaua yo otras muchas.
[977] G., alta.
[978] G., letras.
[979] G., ellas.
ARGUMENTO
DEL DEÇIMO
OCTAUO CANTO
DEL GALLO

En el deçimo octauo canto o


sueño que se sigue el auctor
muestra los grandes daños
que en el mundo se siguen por
faltar la verdad[981] de entre
los hombres.

Miçilo.—Pues por tu buena


ventura, gallo, o Pithagoras, o
como más te quisieres llamar, de
todas las cosas tienes esperiençia
que en el çielo y en la tierra
pueden aconteçer agora: yo
deseo mucho de ti saber me
declares vna admirable dubda
que grauemente atormenta mi
spiritu sin poder hallar quién me
satisfaga con bastante respuesta.
¿De dónde prouiene en algunos
vna insaçiable cobdiçia de mentir
en quanto hablan, en tanta
manera que a sí mesmos con
sumo deleyte se saborean, como
sepan que todo es vanidad
quanto dizen, y con suma
efficaçia tienen en atençion los
animos de los oyentes?
Gallo.—Muchas cosas son ¡o
Micilo! las que fuerçan algunas
vezes los hombres a mentir.
Como es en los belicosos y
hombres de guerra se tiene por
ardid saber con mentira engañar
al enemigo, como en esta arte fue
muy sagaz y industrioso Ulises; y
tanbien lo vsan los cobdiçiosos de
riquezas y honrras mundanas por
vender sus mercaderias y
auentajarse en sus
contrataçiones. Pero avnque todo
esto sea ansi te ruego me digas la
ocasion que a saberlo te mueue?
Miçilo.—Todo eso se sufre que
me has dicho por ofreçerse en
esos casos intereses que a mentir
os[982] mueue. Pero donde no se
les ofreçe interes de más que
satisfazer[983] su apetito, ¿de
dónde les viene la inclinaçion a
tan nefando y odioso viçio? Que
ay hombres que en ninguna cosa
ponen más arte, cuydado y
industria que en mentir sin algun
interes como al presente te quiero
contar. Bien conoçes a
Demophon nuestro vezino.
Gallo.—¿Es este rico que está
en nuestra vezindad?
Miçilo.—Ese mesmo. Ya sabes
que abrá ocho dias que se le
murio su muger. Pues a esta
causa por ser mi vezino y amigo
que sienpre me combidó a sus
çenas y çelebridades, quisele yr
la noche passada a visitar y
consolar en su viudez.
Gallo.—Antes auias de dezir[984]
a le dar la buena pro haga.
Miçilo.—Pues auianme dicho
que con el gran pessar que tenía
de la muerte de su muger estaua
enfermo, y ansi le hallé en la
cama muy afligido y llorando, y
como yo entré y le saludé me
reçibio con alguna liberalidad
mandandome sentar en vna silla
que tenía muy cerca de sí, y
despues que le vbe dicho
aquellas palabras que se suelen
dezir en el comun: señor,
pessame de la muerte de vuestra
muger y de vuestro mal;
començele a inportunar me
dixesse qué era la causa que de
nueuo le hazia verter lagrimas
auiendo ya algunos dias que se le
auia muerto la muger. A lo qual
me respondio, que no se le
ofreçia cosa que más nueua le
fuesse que auersele muerto la
muger, su compañera la que él
tanto amó[985] en esta vida y de
que tanto se deuia perpetuamente
acordar[986], y dixome que
estando alli en su cama solo la
noche passada en consideraçion
de la[987] soledad y miseria que le
quedaua sin su[988] amada
Feliçia, que ansi se llamaua su
muger, pessandole mucho por
auerla desgraçiado[989] poco
antes de su muerte[990], porque
rogandole ella que le renouasse
çiertas joyas de oro y faldrillas
que ella tenía de[991] otro tiempo,
no lo auia hecho, y que estando
muy apesarado pensando en
esto, por no le auer complazido le
apareçio Feliçia increpandoles
porque auiendole sido en todo
muy cunplido y liberal, auia sido
muy corto en lo que más
hazia[992] a su honrra, porque en
su entierro y obsequias no la
auian acompañado el cabildo
mayor y cantores con musica, y
porque no la auian tañido las
campanas con solenidad, que
llaman enpino, y que la lleuaron al
tenplo en vnas comunes andas
auiendola de lleuar en ataud; y
otras cosas dixo del paño que
ençima de si lleuaua[993], si era
de brocado, luto o seda. Lo qual
todo pareçiendome muy grandes
disparates y liuiandades me reí
diziendo que se consolasse
mucho, que buen remedio tenía
tornando de nueuo a hazer las
obsequias; y por pareçerle que yo
no lo creya lo trabajó apoyar con
grandes juramentos, y por que via
que mientra él más juraua yo
menos le creya, se leuantó en
camisa de la cama y se abajó
inclinado de rodillas en el suelo
señalándome con el dedo las
señales de sus pies que alli auia
dexado y imprimido, y estaua todo
el suelo tan llano y tan igual que
no se hallara vn cabello de
differençia aunque tuuierades
ojos de linçe; y ansi por me
persuadir su sueño se tornó a la
cama donde sentado y
mandándose encorporar de[994]
almohadas que le tuuiessen
proçedio en cosas tan
monstruosas y tan sin orden
acerca de su sueño y vision, y en
loor de su mujer que no
huviera[995] en el mundo tan vano
juizio que las creyera[996], hasta
que quebrada la cabeça de le
oyr[997] me despedi dél y me
vine[998] acostar.
Gallo.—Verdad es ¡o, Miçilo! que
esas cosas que Demophon ay te
conto no son de creer de
razonable juizio, porque ya te he
dicho lo que en la buelta de las
almas de los defuntos ay[999].
Pero mira bien no incurras tú en
vn genero de incredulidad que
tienen algunos hombres, que
ninguna cosa les dizen por façil y
comun que sea que la quieran
creer; pero marauillandose de
todo, se espantan y santiguan y
todo dizen que es mentira y
monstruosidad. Lo qual todo es
argumento de poca esperiençia y
saber. Porque como no han visto
nada, ni han leydo nada,
qualquiera cosa que de nueuo
vean les pareçe ser hecho[1000]
por arte de encantamiento o
embaymiento, y por el semejante,
qualquiera cosa que de nueuo
oyan y[1001] les digan se
encogen, espantan y admiran, y
tienen por aueriguado que la
fingen siendo mentira por vurlar
dellos y los engañar. Pero los
sabios, los que todo lo han visto,
los que todo lo han leydo, todo lo
menospreçian, todo lo tienen en
poco, y ansi passando adelante lo
rien y mofan y tachan y
reprehenden, mostrando auer
ellos visto mucho más sin
comparaçion. Ansi agora tú
considera que no es peor
estremo, no creer nada, que
creerlo todo, y piensa que
ninguna cosa puede imaginar el
entendimiento humano que no
pueda ser, y que marauilla es que
todo lo que puede ser, sea de
hecho ya y acontezca. Pues ansi
agora yo, Miçilo, me temo si no
quieres creer cosa de quantas
hasta agora te he dicho, y pienses
y sospeches que todo ha sido
mentira y fingido por te dar
passamiento, y ansi creo que
menos creras vn admirable
aconteçimiento que agora te
queria contar, porque junto con lo
que hasta aqui te he contado
exçede en admiraçion sin
comparaçion alguna a lo que
Demophon tu vezino te persuadio
auer visto.
Miçilo.—Mira, gallo, que
entendido tengo que todas las
cosas verdaderas que se dizen si
bien se quieren mirar muestran en
sí vna verisimilitud que fuerçan al
entendimiento humano a las
creer; porque luego representan y
reluze en ellas aquella deidad de
la verdad que tienen en sí, y
después desto tiene gran fuerça
la auctoridad del que las dize, en
tanta manera que avn la mesma
mentira es tenida por verdad. Ansi
que por todas estas razones soy
forçado a que lo que tú dixeres te
aya yo de creer; por lo qual, di, yo
te ruego, con seguridad y
confiança, que ninguna cosa que
tú dixeres dubdaré,
prinçipalmente que no ay
marauilla alguna que me
marauille despues que vi a tí
siendo gallo hablar nuestra
lengua; por lo qual me persuades
a creer que tengas alguna deydad
de beatitud, y que por esta no
podras mentir.
Gallo.—Por cierto yo queria
çesar ¡o Miçilo! de mi narraçion
por auerla interrumpido con
alguna señal de dubda. Dexaras
en verdad de gozar de la más alta
y más feliçissima historia que
nunca hasta agora ingenio de
historiador ha[1002] escripto, y
prinçipalmente por narrartela yo
que soy el que la passé. Pero por
la seguridad que al credito y fe
me tienes dada quiero proçeder,
porque no quiero pribarte del
gusto y deleyte admirable que en
oyrla gozarás, y verás despues
que la ayas oydo de quanto sabor
te pribarás si por ignorar antes lo
que era menos preçiaras de lo
oyr, y conoçerás quanto amigo te
soy y buen apaniguado y familiar,
pues no estimando la injuria que
me hazias con tu dubdar te
comunico tan gran beatitud. Por
tanto prestame atençion, que oy
verás quan elegante rectorico soy.
Tú sabras, que en vn tiempo
siendo mançebo y cobdiçioso de
ver, vino nueua en Castilla que se
auian ganado en las partes
oçidentales aquellas grandes
tierras de la Nueua España[1003]
que nueuamente ganó aquel
animoso marques del Valle,
Cortés, y por satisfazer en alguna
manera el insaçiable animo de mi
deseo que tenía de ver tierras y
cosas nueuas determinéme de
enbarcar, y auenturarme a esta
nauegaçion, y ansi en este
mesmo deseo me fue para la
çiudad y ysla de Caliz donde se
hazia el flete mas conueniente y
natural para semejante xornada; y
llegado alli[1004] hallé diez
conpañeros que con el mesmo
affecto y voluntad eran venidos
alli, y como en aquella çiudad
venian muchos de aquella nueua
tierra y nos dezian cosas de
admiraçion, creçianos mas el
apetito de caminar. Deziannos el
natural de las gentes, las
costumbres, atauio y dispusiçion;
la diuersidad de los animales,
aues, frutas y mantenimientos y
tierra. Era tan admirable lo que
nos dezian juntamente con lo que
nos mostrauan los que de allá
venian que no nos podiamos
contener[1005], y ansi juntandonos
veynte compañeros todos
mançebos y de vna edad, hecho
pacto entre nosotros inuiolable de
nunca nos faltar, y çelebradas las
çerimonias de la[1006] amistad con
juramento solene fletamos vn
nauio vezcayno velero y ligero,
todos de bolsa comun, y con
prospero tiempo partimos vn dia
del puerto, encomendados a Dios,
y ansi nos continuó siete dias
siguientes hasta que se nos
descubrieron las yslas fortunadas
que llaman de Canaria. Donde
tomado refresco[1007] despues de
vista la tierra, con prospero
tiempo[1008] tornamos a salir de
alli y caminando por el mar al
terçero dia de nuestro camino dos
horas salido el sol haziendo claro
y sereno el çielo dixeron los
pilotos ver vna ysla de la qual no
tenian notiçia ni la podian
conoçer, de que estauan
admirados y confusos por no se
saber determinar, poniendonos en
gran temor ansi a deshora,
admirauanse más turbados de ver
que la ysla caminaua más
veniendo ella azia[1009] nosotros
que caminauamos nosotros para
ella. En fin en breue tiempo nos
venimos tanto juntando que
venimos a conoçer que aquella
que antes nos pareçia ysla era vn
fiero y terrible animal. Conoçimos
ser vna vallena de grandeza
increyble, que en sola la frente
con un pedaço del çerro que se
nos descubria sobre las aguas del
mar juzgauamos auer quatro
millas. Venia contra nosotros
abierta la boca soplando muy
fiera y espantosamente que a
diez millas haçia retener el nauio
con la furia de la ola que ella
arroxaua de sí; de manera que
viniendo ella de la parte del
poniente, y caminando nosotros
con prospero leuante nos forçaua
calmar, y avn boluer atras el
camino. Venia desde lexos
espumando y turbando el mar con
gran alteraçion; ya que estuuimos
más çerca que
alcançauamos[1010] a verla más
en particular pareçiansele los
dientes tan terribles cada vno
como vna montaña[1011] de
hechura de grandes palas;
blancos como el fino marfil.
Venimos adelante a juzgar por la
grandeza que se nos mostró
sobre las aguas, ser de longura
de dos mil leguas. Pues como nos
vimos ya en sus manos y que no
le podiamos huyr[1012]
començamonos a abraçar entre
los compañeros, y a darnos las
manos con grandes lagrimas y
alarido, porque viamos el fin de
nuestra vida y compañia estar en
aquel punto sin remedio alguno, y
ansi dando ella un terrible
empujon por el agua adelante y
abriendo la boca nos tragó tan sin
embaraço ni estorbo de dientes ni
paladar que sin tocar en parte
alguna con gauia, velas, xarçia y
muniçion y obras muertas fuemos

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