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New Scientist Guide to Chaos
Whenever scientists attempt to explain natural phenomena � why boats capsize, how fast an insect population or a disease like AIDS is likely to spread, what the weather will be like next week � they need to make use of chaos theory. From a dripping tap to the planets in the solar system, uncertainty is everywhere. Where minute changes in a single variable can engender a vast range of different results, prediction is practically impossible. Yet once the nature of chaos is apprehended � that random quality to be discerned in even the simplest of equations and in the haunting computer graphics known as fractals � attempts to analyse the true complexities of beating hearts, water turbulence, chemical reactions, economics and electronics could possibly begin. In this collection of incisive reports, first published in New Scientist and edited for this Penguin Science series offering by Nina Hall, 18 acknowledged experts, including Ian Stewart, Robert May, Benoit Mandlebrot and Paul Davies, draw on a considerable body of research to describe the roots of chaos in modern mathematics and physics and convey the almost unlimited range of current applications it could have.
Mass Market Paperback
First published February 27, 1992
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 11, 2023
Great read! Really a huge span of topics in the field with great images to aid. Only got lost a few times and enjoyed the majority despite hating some subjects like astrophysics previously. Lovely ending chapter to consolidate. Also made me laugh as I recently watched the original Jurassic park in which Jeff Goldbloom's character is a chaos mathematician. Wonder if they got the buzzwords from here... I'll have to check the dates of publishing. Great read anyway :)
May 5, 2018
Quizás su principal carencia sea también su punto fuerte: data de 1991. Esto nos da una inevitable impresión de que los contenidos están algo desfasados -más aún considerando el papel que juega la computación en el estudio del caos y su apabullante desarrollo en los últimos años-, pero también nos gratifica con la emoción de lo que en estos años era aún todo un hot topic.
Todo esto de la mano de pesos pesados de la materia (Mandelbrot, Stewart, Berry...), que nos dan una apasionada introducción al caos y las distintas disciplinas que este abarca.
Todo esto de la mano de pesos pesados de la materia (Mandelbrot, Stewart, Berry...), que nos dan una apasionada introducción al caos y las distintas disciplinas que este abarca.
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August 10, 2019Essays about chaos. Mandelbrot and mathematical examples of chaos were most interesting.
September 24, 2013
You don't need to be a writer if you want to talk about something you love. There's as much poetry in these essays on chaos theory as there is in more classic literature. Each chapter is soaked in an infectious love of the science. I was a convert from the first page.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
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