Exploring Nature's Dynamics (Wiley Series in Nonlinear Science)

Explore the remarkable variety of nature's dynamics
The development of the computer over the latter half of the twentieth century has greatly advanced our ability to explore the complex dynamics that occur in nature. With the aid of the computer, we can now study nonlinear types of dynamics that cannot generally be studied by mathematics. Realistic computer models of natural dynamics can now be developed, and even the simplest have uncovered remarkable and unexpected types of natural dynamics.
Researchers have found that simple dynamic actions over short periods of time can produce long-term dynamics that were never dreamt of in the past. Even the smallest changes in a system's short-time behavior can have enormous effects on the future of the system. Slightly different initial configurations can also produce very different future dynamics, which is now recognized as the important "sensitivity" feature of many dynamic systems.
Exploring Nature's Dynamics offers an introductory opportunity to learn about-and explore for yourself-some of the diverse forms of dynamics that occur in nature's reproduction processes. These forms include the competitive and cooperative interactions between species, neurological behaviors, dynamic spatial organizations, and the amazing constructive contributions of chaotic dynamics to our minds and hearts, the evolution of our solar system, and the human species itself. All you need to explore these ideas is a healthy curiosity and your own imagination. The accompanying disk includes simple Qbasic computer programs that allow you to witness dynamic systems at work. The methods for using these programs-and for making modifications based on your own creativity-are fully explained for people who have never used computer programs before. So come explore!

E. ATLEE JACKSON is Professor of Physics, Emeritus, former Director of the Center for Complex System?s Research at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and a Fellow of the American Physical Society. He has taught and performed research on nonlinear dynamic phenomena for forty years, and is the author of the two-volume Perspectives of Nonlinear Dynamics.