# Adaptive design books > A reading list on adaptive and emergent systems: Christopher Alexander, Steven Johnson, Stewart Brand, Jane Jacobs, Rheingold's Smart Mobs, Wolfram. - Page: https://www.elasticspace.com/2004/03/adaptive-design/ - Author: Timo Arnall (https://www.elasticspace.com/) - Section: Notes (https://www.elasticspace.com/notes/) - Published: 2004-03-17 - Updated: 2026-07-05 - Tags: Adaptive Design, Books, Interaction Design, Research, Social - Site map for agents: https://www.elasticspace.com/llms.txt --- This is one of a series of reading lists I put together between 2002 and 2004 when I was starting out in interaction and experience design, building out a personal canon from books I was buying, borrowing from libraries, or lending to students. The lists are grouped by topic. This one is on adaptive design: emergence, pattern languages, the design of things that learn or evolve, and the classics on how cities and communities organise themselves. Christopher Alexander is the spine of this shelf, from Notes on the Synthesis of Form through A Pattern Language to The Nature of Order. Stewart Brand’s How Buildings Learn is the architectural companion. Jane Jacobs’s Death and Life of Great American Cities is the urban-planning foundation. Steven Johnson’s Emergence and Mitchel Resnick’s Turtles, Termites, and Traffic Jams are the approachable modern introductions to complex adaptive systems. Rheingold’s Smart Mobs is the early-2000s prediction of networked collective behaviour that mostly came true. The Amazon links below are what I had at the time, most will be dead now, but the ISBNs will find you a copy. ### Notes on the Synthesis of Form Christopher Alexander. [amazon.co.uk](http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0674627512/elasticspace-21) / [amazon.com](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0674627512/elasticspace-20) ### The Nature of Order Christopher Alexander. [amazon.com](https://web.archive.org/web/20030413194206/http://www.amazon.com:80/exec/obidos/ASIN/0195106393/elasticspace-20) ### The Oregon Experiment Christopher Alexander. [amazon.co.uk](http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0195018249/elasticspace-21) / [amazon.com](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0195018249/elasticspace-20) ### A Pattern Language Christopher Alexander, Sara Ishikawa, Murray Silverstein. [amazon.co.uk](http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0195019199/elasticspace-21) / [amazon.com](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0195019199/elasticspace-20) ### The Timeless Way of Building Christopher Alexander. [amazon.co.uk](http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0195024028/elasticspace-21) / [amazon.com](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0195024028/elasticspace-20) ### How Buildings Learn Stewart Brand. [amazon.co.uk](http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0753800500/elasticspace-21) / [amazon.com](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0140139966/elasticspace-20) ### Turtles, Termites, and Traffic Jams Mitchel Resnick. [amazon.co.uk](http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0262680939/elasticspace-21) / [amazon.com](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0262680939/elasticspace-20) ### Emergence: The Connected Lives of Ants, Brains, Cities, and Software Steven Johnson. [amazon.co.uk](http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0713994002/elasticspace-21) / [amazon.com](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/068486875X/elasticspace-20) ### The Tipping Point Malcolm Gladwell. [amazon.co.uk](http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0316648523/elasticspace-21) / [amazon.com](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0316648523/elasticspace-20) ### Small Pieces Loosely Joined: A Unified Theory of the Web David Weinberger. [amazon.co.uk](http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0738205435/elasticspace-21) / [amazon.com](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0738205435/elasticspace-20) ### Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution Howard Rheingold. [amazon.co.uk](http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0738206083/elasticspace-21) / [amazon.com](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0738206083/elasticspace-20) ### The Death and Life of Great American Cities Jane Jacobs. [amazon.co.uk](http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/067974195X/elasticspace-21) / [amazon.com](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/067974195X/elasticspace-20) ### Adventures in Modeling: Exploring Complex, Dynamic Systems with StarLogo Vanessa Colella, Eric Klopfer, Mitchel Resnick. [amazon.co.uk](http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0807740829/elasticspace-21) / [amazon.com](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0807740829/elasticspace-20) ### A New Kind of Science Stephen Wolfram. [amazon.co.uk](http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1579550088/elasticspace-21) / [amazon.com](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1579550088/elasticspace-20) ### The Control Revolution Andrew L. Shapiro. [amazon.co.uk](http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1891620193/elasticspace-21) / [amazon.com](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1891620193/elasticspace-20) ### Society of Mind Marvin Minsky. [amazon.co.uk](http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0671657135/elasticspace-21) / [amazon.com](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0671657135/elasticspace-20) ### The Electric Meme Robert Aunger. [amazon.co.uk](http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0743201507/elasticspace-21) / [amazon.com](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0743201507/elasticspace-20) ### Life on the Screen: Identity in the Age of the Internet Sherry Turkle. [amazon.co.uk](http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0684833484/elasticspace-21) / [amazon.com](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0684833484/elasticspace-20) ### The Virtual Community Howard Rheingold. [amazon.co.uk](http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0262681218/elasticspace-21) / [amazon.com](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0262681218/elasticspace-20) ### Design for Community Derek M. Powazek. [amazon.co.uk](http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0735710759/elasticspace-21) / [amazon.com](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0735710759/elasticspace-20) ### Community Building on the Web Amy Jo Kim. [amazon.co.uk](http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0201874849/elasticspace-21) / [amazon.com](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0201874849/elasticspace-20) ### Online Communities Jenny Preece. [amazon.co.uk](http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0471805998/elasticspace-21) / [amazon.com](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0471805998/elasticspace-20)