Anderson: more is different

What changed

Synthesized an argument for emergent organizing principles at higher complexity.

Scientific scope

The record is Anderson’s sole-author 1972 Science essay. It is a conceptual synthesis, not an experimental discovery or a theorem that forbids reduction, and it does not absorb the underlying many-body and broken-symmetry results of other works.

Evidence

The linked sources identify this contribution and its scope. WRS has not independently reconstructed the scientific claims. The record is Anderson’s sole-author 1972 Science essay. It is a conceptual synthesis, not an experimental discovery or a theorem that forbids reduction, and it does not absorb the underlying many-body and broken-symmetry results of other works.

Contributors

• P. W. Anderson · SCIENCE: Named source author of the scoped work; individual effort shares are not measured.

• Science record for More Is Different
• University copy of Anderson paper

Provisional WRS assessment, edition 2026-10-16.1. Independent expert calibration is pending. This grade does not certify correctness or assign ownership.

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