Peter, what you have quoted above—-simple things generating a complex outcome that could not be understood by studying the part-—is called Chaos Theory (the Science of Complexity, loosely speaking): “Science generally uses a system called reductionism to investigate our world. This means breaking down anything being examined into the parts that make it up. Reductionism proposes that if we understand the parts, we will understand how the whole system works. If you take a mechanical clock to pieces, you can see what each part does you can find out how it works. Some things, however, can't be investigated in this way. There is much to be learned by dissecting a rat, for example, but in dissecting it, we kill it and cannot learn what gives it life.” http://complexity.orconhosting.net.nz/index.html Hawkins talks about how the next frontier in science will be the Science of Complexity, which defies the linear, Euclidean analysis of things we examine. For instance, CCD may not be understood by simply focusing on isolated issues affecting bees, such as nosema, pesticide, dwindling forage areas, doping, or pimping across the country, alone. One must look at the whole picture. A butterfly flapping in Brazil (Varroa vector), for instance, can create a tornado in Texas (CCD) through multiplication of its force in nonlinear interactions within a living environment whose result no one can predict. Yoon **************************************************** * General Information About BEE-L is available at: * * http://www.honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/default.htm * ****************************************************