This paper suggests that present-day curriculum, based on Newtonian thought, has been rendered obsolete by the holistic and interactive "post-modern" world view based on quantum physics, nonlinear mathematics, general systems theory, and Ilya Prigogine's nonequilibrium thermodynamics. The Newtonian world view, which is linear and reductionist, is the theoretical foundation of Madeline Hunter's or Ralph Tyler's notions of an orderly curriculum with ends preset, and of B. F. Skinner's conceptions of expressing learning in discrete, quantifiable, and linear units. These conceptions assume the whole to be no more than the sum of the parts and lead to a curriculum that is cumulative rather than transformative. This paper accordingly focuses on three facets of post-modern thought that have radical implications for curriculum: (1) the nature of open (as opposed to closed) systems; (2) the structure of complexity (as opposed to simplicity); and (3) transformatory (as opposed to cumulative) change. Prigogine's notion of nonequilibrium or dissipative structures in the process of becoming is posited as a more accurate model for a curriculum than Newton's physical, inert, mechanical structures. These developing, open structures have their own properties, distinct from equilibrium structures, and are useful as models for curriculum research and thought. Specifically, it is argued that curricula should be structured as self-regulating "open systems" where internal, autocatalytic transformations are encouraged. To move from a curriculum based on the simple and separate to one based on the complex and cosmological requires us not only to adopt a "new dialogue with nature" but also to adopt a radically new relationship with students and a more integrative approach to subject matter. (TE)