Chaos

Gleick, J.

ISBN 10: 043429554X / ISBN 13: 9780434295548

Published by Arrow (A Division of Random House Group), Uk, 1988

About this Item

First edition first printing . Book and dust wrapper in very good condition . Book has no inscriptions and is not an ex library book . Dust wrapper is not price clipped. Please see photographs which are of the actual book . Book is in transparent protective wrapper . All books shipped via Royal mail tracked and packed in bubble wrap and cardboard book sleeves.

Seller Inventory # 421

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Chaos
• Publisher: Arrow (A Division of Random House Group), Uk
• Publication Date: 1988
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 043429554X
• ISBN 13: 9780434295548
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Printing: 1st Printing
• Condition: Very Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good
• Dimensions: 160W x 235H x 35D millimeters 160 millimeters width by 235 millimeters height by 35 millimeters depth
• Weight: 453.592 grams

About this title

Synopsis

Popular science.

Review

Few writers distinguish themselves by their ability to write about complicated, even obscure topics clearly and engagingly. James Gleick, a former science writer for the New York Times, resides in this exclusive category. In Chaos, he takes on the job of depicting the first years of the study of chaos--the seemingly random patterns that characterize many natural phenomena.

This is not a purely technical book. Instead, it focuses as much on the scientists studying chaos as on the chaos itself. In the pages of Gleick's book, the reader meets dozens of extraordinary and eccentric people. For instance, Mitchell Feigenbaum, who constructed and regulated his life by a 26-hour clock and watched his waking hours come in and out of phase with those of his coworkers at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

As for chaos itself, Gleick does an outstanding job of explaining the thought processes and investigative techniques that researchers bring to bear on chaos problems. Rather than attempt to explain Julia sets, Lorenz attractors, and the Mandelbrot Set with gigantically complicated equations, Chaos relies on sketches, photographs, and Gleick's wonderful descriptive prose.