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Chaos Theory Tamed
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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 003.857
EAN: 9780309063517
Edition: 1
ISBN: 0309063515
Label: Joseph Henry Press
Manufacturer: Joseph Henry Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 520
Publication Date: October 08, 1997
Publisher: Joseph Henry Press
Studio: Joseph Henry Press
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Editorial Review:
Helps you understand the basic concepts of this relatively new arm of science. Drawing from mathematics, physics and statistics, this book provides a toolkit for readers, including, vectors, phase space, Fourier analysis, timeseries analysis, and autocorrection.
What is this business called "chaos"? What does it deal with? Why do people think it's important? And how did the term "chaos"--long associated with disorder--come to signify a new paradigm in the orderly realm of mathematics?
The concept of chaos is one of the most exciting and rapidly expanding research topics of recent decades. Chaos might underlie many kinds of well-known processes--the performance of the stock market, the weather, the cries of newborn babies, the dripping of a leaky faucet, and more.
In Chaos Theory Tamed, scientist Garnett P. Williams walks the reader through this exciting territory, building an understanding of chaos and its significance in our lives. Chaos is a mathematical subject. If you seek bodice-ripping romance, this book is not for you. But if you are a researcher working with data...a scientist, engineer, or economist who has specialized outside the field of mathematics...or an interested person with a bit of background in algebra and statistics...then Chaos Theory Tamed can help you understand the basic concepts of this relatively new arm of science.
Williams explains the terms necessary for an understanding of chaos theory. He discusses "sensitive dependence on initial conditions" and what that means for long-term predictions. He explores the role of the chaotic or "strange" attractor, order within chaos, fractal structure, and the emerging concepts of self-organization and complexity.
Drawing from mathematics, physics, and statistics, the book provides a toolkit for readers, including vectors, phase space, Fourier analysis, time-series analysis, and autocorrelation. Williams describes routes that systems may take from regular behavior to chaos--period doubling, intermittency, and quasiperiodicity--and discusses nonlinear equations that can give rise to chaos. Dimension is a basic ingredient of chaos, and Williams brings clarity to the many ways in which this term is used by specialists in the field. And he explains how the magnitude of chaos may be gauged by Lyapunov exponents, Kolmogorov-Sinai entropy, and mutual information--mysterious terms that "aren't all that difficult once we pick them apart," says Williams.
Chaos Theory Tamed makes generous use of lists, graphs, field examples, summaries, and--perhaps most important--friendly language to help the reader learn and use the vocabulary of chaos. It will help scientists, students, and others outside mathematics to use the concepts of chaos in working with data, and it will give the interested lay reader a foothold on the fundamentals of this new realm of thought.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Brilliant
Garnett Williams is my hero. He takes what seems like a complicated topic and makes it seem simple. Williams never assumes anything about the reader's prior understanding of any topic - he patiently and carefully explains what you need to know to understand his point. He reiterates, summarizes and gives examples so that even when you are occaisionally feeling like you might get lost, he reels you right back in.
He includes a glossary and chapter summaries which are very helpful. ... Read More
Rating:  - for science or engineering readers
With all the noise about chaos and chaotic phenomena, Williams sets out to dispel the confusion. Powerful maths ideas are explained with enough rigour to satisfy most readers. But this is primarily not a maths text. I started reading it thinking it was, and then realised otherwise.
The ideas are not developed in a traditional maths way, with scads of theorems, lemmas and corrolaries. The exposition deliberately mimics what you are likely to see in a physics or engineering book. With ... Read More
Rating: - Excellent:-- clear explantions
This is an extremely well-written book. It is not a "popular science" book, but if you have a few semesters of undergraduate math, you'll be fine.
The author presents the material very clearly and cleanly, with easy examples and useful intuitive metaphors.
I wish all math and science texts were this well-written.
Rating: - Excellent introducion to chaos theory!
I am very happy having chance to read this book. Actually after the Gleicks Chaos I've tried to read "Understanding nonlinear dynamics" but some chapters were too hard to understand for me. After reading "Chaos theory tamed" the previous book was overcame in a meantime cause Williams book builds up a very strong background and is excellent step for further exploration for a non-mathematician.
thanks to gnutella network:)
Rating: - beginner's choice
Very easy to read. It is an excellent tool to readers that want a first contact with chaos theory. The math is very simple and even if you are rusty or need some basic theory the book has 7 chapters to reinforced you. If by chance you don't understand this tools then probably chaos theory is not for you.
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