4 comments about Chaos: Making a New Science.

1. Being written in a comprehendible language, it is really a nice intelligent book presented and further inspired an innovative complex field of modern science.
   
   No clue, whether a Chaos inventor was bestowed with any prize upon at all.



2. Gleick introduces chaos in an easy and understandable way, not relying on lots of mathematics. His descriptions of deterministic chaos are accurate and he recounts several stories to help the reader understand the context of the discoveries. Not a book for mathematicians, but rather a book for everybody else that loves a good story about where our current science views are coming from. Read this before you get into Holland and the rest of the manic gang.



3. We all know things that are not predictable. These can be everyday occurrences like the weather, or more specialised events (whether the stock market will go up or down). The unpredictable plays a large part in "normal life". Yet for some of these matters, there is a nagging feeling that if sufficient information were known, the unpredictable would indeed be able to be forecast with as much certainty as whether the sun will rise tomorrow. Thus James Gleick introduces the topic of `chaos' - there can be a "sensitive dependence on initial conditions". If we were to know the initial conditions in all their details, predictability would be brought within our grasp. Thus the flapping of the wings of a butterfly in China could result in rainfall in Indianapolis.
   
   At times I was lost in the small detail, but the strength of this book is that it paints a big picture. The mathematics (and physics, and chemistry, and biology, and .....) is sometimes beyond me, but the overall story is that there is `chaos' all around. Some of the chaos is linked into classic Newtonian mechanics, but strangely enough, chaos almost has in itself an order and `predictability' about it.
   
   The three of the most significant scientific theories of the 20th century are reckoned to be Einstein's General Relativity, Quantum Mechanics, and ...... Chaos Theory. Before opening this very historical account of the last mentioned, I knew nothing about the theory of chaos. Now I have an awareness of the subject, and how experimentation can play a part in mathematics. Experimentation and mathematics are not normally uttered in the same sentence.
   
   Look for the big picture, and do not get lost in the people and places, which can be bewildering. If you read this book, please ensure that it has colour photographs within it - the pictures are both staggering, and help to bring home the message. Some areas of chaos have their roots in self similarity, and the pictures from Mendelbrot sets are both staggering and fascinating. Self similarity can be best summed up by the classic (and anonymous) ditty: "Big fleas have on their backs small fleas to bite them, small flees have smaller fleas and so ad infinitum"
   
   Gleick is strong on the history and roots of chaos, and how the ideas were received when initially tabled. There was shock and disbelief that others from external communities could have something to say that would have relevance to (say) population growth models, from totally different scientific disciplines. There was also reluctance initially to publish some of the ground-braking ideas.
   
   Chaos is about non-linear dynamics, fractals, fractal boundary basins and much more. As `chaos' as a concept (and almost as a discipline) spread, rather than bringing order when chaos had existed before (and this could be described as one of the main purposes of `science'), evidence of more chaos emerges.
   
   From study, it could be that there is more evidence of chaos than we thought hitherto. There could be chaos in space, and the onset of cardiac arrhythmias (heart attacks) seems chaotic. Gleick speculates that `evolution' is chaos with feedback. He has made me more aware of randomness. Classic determinism generates randomness. Perhaps, just perhaps, chaos is a way to reconcile free will and determinism. All in all, unlike the pure scientists of old, I now find myself positively looking for chaos.
   
   Perhaps that is a mark of a well presented book.
   
   [...].



4. I can imagine the amount of effort done by the author to collect the different pieces together to construct a consistent line of thought along the whole book. Good piece!

1 comments about State Space and Input-Output Linear Systems.

1. This book is a complete,contained and clear survey of Linear Systems theory from the point of view of an engineer.The author jointly develops both linear systems theory and the analytical skills you need to master the subject.The style is clear always striving to elucidate the most difficult points and connecting the particular results in an organized and clear whole.5 stars!

No comments about Composition in the Twenty-First Century: Crisis and Change.

No comments about Nonlinear Dynamics and Chaos.

No comments about Introduction to stochastic models in operations research.

No comments about Coding Theory: The Essentials (Pure and Applied Mathematics : a Series of Monographs and Textbooks, 150).

No comments about Intro to Comp Simulation refer pap.

No comments about Multistage Fuzzy Control: A Model-Based Approach to Fuzzy Control and Decision Making.

No comments about Student Edition of SIMULINK v2 User's Guide.

5 comments about Earth's Dynamic Systems (9th Edition).

1. I own a copy of the fifth edition of this book. I am a science junkie and enjoy reading science text books. I find geology particularly interesting and over the years I have read dozens and dozens of geology textbooks. Earth's Dynamic Systems is by far the best I have ever read. If I was ever to teach a geology class, this is the book I would use. The line of thinking is so clear and logical in this book it is a joy to read. The illustrations are among the best I have ever seen and I have just the old the 5th ed. Generally when there are a number of good books on a given subject, they are all pretty much the same in quality. But that is not the case here, this book is head and shoulders above all other geology books. The edition I have also came with a lab manual that I also highly recommend. A wonderful set of books I am proud to own. If you are looking for a definitive single book that best covers all of geology, this is it. In this one book is more geology than in several other books put together. If you thoroughly read this book, you will know geology better than most geologists, it really is that good.



2. This book was advertised as the 10th edition, but was really the 9th edition. The seller contacted me and offered my money back or a discount, but I didn't respond promply to the email, so I ended up with the book anyway. I ended up buying it from the bookstore too. This books seemed to be the same, exempt the chapters were in different orders. I felt that is was my fault for not responding to the email, but advertising the right edition I think is key if you are going to sell books online.



3. i find it hard to understand the concepts



4. Another great book. useful not only for a student but even for a graduated geologist, where you can find all the basic concepts explained in an exceptional way.



5. The book was shipped the same day I ordered it, it arrived within two days of ordering.