Overview

The million-copy New York Times bestseller and finalist for both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award that reveals the science behind chaos theory A work of popular science in the tradition of Stephen Hawking and Carl Sagan, this 20th-anniversary edition of James Gleick’s groundbreaking bestseller Chaos introduces a whole new readership to chaos theory, one of the most significant waves of scientific knowledge in our time. From Edward Lorenz’s discovery of the Butterfly Effect, to Mitchell Feigenbaum’s calculation of a universal constant, to Benoit Mandelbrot’s concept of fractals, which created a new geometry of nature, Gleick’s engaging narrative focuses on the key figures whose genius converged to chart an innovative direction for science. In Chaos, Gleick makes the story of chaos theory not only fascinating but also accessible to beginners, and opens our eyes to a surprising new view of the universe.

Full Product Details

Author:   James Gleick
Publisher:   Penguin Putnam Inc
Imprint:   Penguin USA
Edition:   20th Anniversary ed.
Dimensions:   Width: 13.90cm , Height: 2.60cm , Length: 21.30cm
Weight:   0.397kg
ISBN:  

9780143113454

ISBN 10:   0143113453
Pages:   384
Publication Date:   26 August 2008
Recommended Age:   From 18 years
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
This item will be ordered in for you from one of our suppliers. Upon receipt, we will promptly dispatch it out to you. For in store availability, please contact us.

Table of Contents

"ChaosPrologue The Butterfly Effect Edward Lorenz and his toy weather. The computer misbehaves. Long-range forecasting is doomed. Order masquerading as randomness. A world of nonlinearity. ""We completely missed the point."" Revolution A revolution in seeing. Pendulum clocks, space balls, and playground swings. The invention of the horseshoe. A mystery solved: Jupiter's Great Red Spot. Life's Ups and Downs Modeling wildlife populations. Nonlinear science, ""the study of non-elephant animals."" Pitchfork bifurcations and a ride on the Spree. A movie of chaos and a messianic appeal. A Geometry of Nature A discovery about cotton prices. A refugee from Bourbaki. Transmission errors and jagged shores. New dimensions. The monsters of fractal geometry. Quakes in the schizosphere. From clouds to blood vessels. The trash cans of science. ""To see the world in a grain of sand."" Strange Attractors A problem for God. Transitions in the laboratory. Rotating cylinders and a turning point. David Ruelle's idea for turbulence. Loops in phase space. Mille-feuilles and sausage. An astronomer's mapping. ""Fireworks or galaxies."" Universality A new start at Los Alamos. The renormalization group. Decoding color. The rise of numerical experimentation. Mitchell Feigenbaum's breakthrough. A universal theory. The rejection letters. Meeting in Como. Clouds and paintings. The Experimenter Helium in a Small Box. ""Insolid billowing of the solid."" Flow and form in nature. Albert Libchaber's delicate triumph. Experiment joins theory. From one dimension to many. Images of Chaos The complex plane. Surprise in Newton's method. The Mandelbrot set: sprouts and tendrils. Art and commerce meet science. Fractal basin boundaries. The chaos game. The Dynamical Systems Collective Santa Cruz and the sixties. The analog computer. Was this science? ""A long-range vision."" Measuring unpredictability. Information theory. From microscale to macroscale. The dripping faucet. Audiovisual aids. An era ends. Inner RhythmsA misunderstanding about models. The complex body. The dynamical heart. Resetting the biological clock. Fatal arrhythmia. Chick embryos and abnormal beats. Chaos as health. Chaos and Beyond New beliefs, new definitions. The Second Law, the snowflake puzzle, and loaded dice. Opportunity and necessity. Afterword Notes on Sources and Further Reading Acknowledgments Index"

Reviews

a Fascinating . . . almost every paragraph contains a jolt.a<br> a The New York Times <br> a Taut and exciting . . . a fascinating illustration of how the pattern of science changes.a<br> a The New York Times Book Review <br> a Highly entertaining . . . a startling look at newly discovered universal laws.a <br>a Chicago Tribune

? Fascinating . . . almost every paragraph contains a jolt.?<br> ? The New York Times <br><br> ? Taut and exciting . . . a fascinating illustration of how the pattern of science changes.?<br> ? The New York Times Book Review <br><br> ? Highly entertaining . . . a startling look at newly discovered universal laws.? <br>? Chicago Tribune <br><br>

Author Information

James Gleick was born in New York City in 1954. He worked for ten years as an editor and reporter for The New York Times, founded an early Internet portal, the Pipeline, and has written several books of popular science, including The Information: A History, a Theory, a Flood, which won the PEN/E. O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award, and Time Travel: A History. He lives in Key West and New York.

Tab Content 6

Author Website:  

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

No review item found!

Add your own review!

Countries Available

All regions