Synopses & Reviews
Chaos and complexity theory have emerged as extremely popular new conceptual approaches in scientific understanding. They have served to elucidate fields long considered resistant to meticulous study--such as those involving large numbers of random patterns-- while capturing the public imagination as well through a series of best-selling books like James Gleick's Chaos and M. Mitchell Waldrop's Complexity: The Emerging Science at the Edge of Order and Chaos. Time magazine put it this way in a recent feature article: "The new field of complexity may explain mysteries from the stock market to the emergence of . . . life, the universe and everything." This new book brings together a group of acknowledged experts who capture the excitement of working at the forefront of this new area of scientific research. In addition to giving simple expositions of the fundamental ideas, their chapters cover ongoing work in chemistry, physics, meteorology, biology, quantum mechanics, and engineering--detailing the latest developments and applications of chaos theory. The text is accessible to nonspecialists, but includes technical details that are often skipped over in popular treatments of the subject. It will be read with interest by a wide range of scientific professionals as well as general readers seeking information on some of the most imaginative research taking place today.
Table of Contents
1. Chaos and its application to physical systems, Tom Mullin
2. A dynamical systems approach to time series analysis, Tom Mullin
3. A multiple bifurcation point as an organizing centre for chaos, Tom Mullin
4. Chaos and fluid dynamics, Tom Mullin
5. Chaos and one-dimensional maps, David Holton and Robert M. May
6. Models of chaos from natural selection, David Holton and Robert M. May
7. Distinguishing chaos from noise, David Holton and Robert M. May
8. The chaos of disease response and competition, David Holton and Robert M. May
9. Chaos and fractal basin boundaries, J.M.T. Thompson
10. Applications of chaos to meteorology and climate, Peter L. Read
11. Non-linearity and chaos in atoms and molecules, M.S. Child
12. The quantum mechanics of chaotic systems, Jonathan Keating