Chaos : Making a New Science

Gleick, James

ISBN 10: 0749386061 / ISBN 13: 9780749386061

Published by Penguin Random House, 1997

About this Item

Ships from the UK. Former library book; may include library markings. Used book that is in clean, average condition without any missing pages.

Seller Inventory # GRP59319061

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Chaos : Making a New Science
• Publisher: Penguin Random House
• Publication Date: 1997
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0749386061
• ISBN 13: 9780749386061
• Binding: Soft cover
• Edition: 1st.
• Condition: Good

About this title

Synopsis

Chaos, a book by James Gleick, first introduced the concept and early development of the chaos theory to the public. Chaos theory is a relatively new field in physics, and deals with simple and complex causes that react to one another. Chaos theory is considered as the third revolution in 20th-century science that uses traditional mathematical ways of understanding and explaining complex natural systems. It philosophically counters the second law of thermodynamics.

Chaos helps us in understanding the fact that there is growth and pattern in chaos itself, despite the outward appearance of being random. Various concepts such as the butterfly effect, universal constants, and strange attractors are discussed at a length in the book. Numerous theories of Mitchell J Feigenbaum and D'arcy Thompson are discussed in an elaborate manner, while also taking into account their historical background. The book explains the Mandelbrot Set and Julia Set without resorting to complex mathematics. In this book, the importance of scientific education is stressed upon by the author.

This book has been nominated for numerous book awards and widely acclaimed as one of the best books on chaos theory. This book was published in 1997 by RHUK, and is available in paperback.

Key Features:

• This is one of the first books that was ever written on the chaos theory, and has also been nominated for various book prizes.
• It helps us in understanding the complexity of problems and the best means of solving it.

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.