2019 marks 50 years since George Spencer-Brown's book, Laws of Form was first published; 50 years since Heinz von Foerster's influential review in The Last Whole Earth Catalogue first appeared, describing it as a Twentieth Century transistorized power-driven equivalent of Occam's razor; 50 years since Stafford Beer reviewed it in Nature, stating he suspected he was reviewing 'a work of genius', a view shared by Lancelot Law Whyte, who described it as such in his book, The Universe of Experience: A Worldview Beyond Science and Religion, adding, 'I recommend to all interested in the frontiers of the intellect the introduction and notes to Laws of Form.' In The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, he stated, 'I still consider, on re-examining this book after a two-year interval, that it is a work of genius … One is aware of contact with a mind of high originality'.

In that space of 50 years, the book, which mixed mathematics, mysticism, and philosophy, has influenced major developments in mathematics, humanities, logic, philosophy, systems theory, and sciences.

The Unmarked State Laws of Form 50th anniversary conference celebrates the work of author and polymath, George Spencer-Brown, 1923-2016 and reviews the past, present, and future of his attempt to rethink creation from first principles, his influence on Kauffman, Luhmann, von Foerster, Varela, and others, and questions what might develop out of Spencer-Brown's work in the next fifty years.

The Unmarked State Laws of Form 50th anniversary conference is a celebratory cross-disciplinary gathering which will be of interest to mathematicians, philosophers, sociologists, cyberneticists, designers, and all those interested in how to create a world from nothing.

The conference was held August 8-10, 2019 at the Old Library, Liverpool University, 19 Abercromby Square L69 7ZN, UK.