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Sync: The Emerging Science of Spontaneous Order
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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 003.7
EAN: 9780786868445
Edition: 1
ISBN: 0786868449
Label: Hyperion
Manufacturer: Hyperion
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 338
Publication Date: March 05, 2003
Publisher: Hyperion
Studio: Hyperion
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Editorial Review:
t the heart of the universe is a steady, insistent beat, the sound of cycles in sync. Along the tidal rivers of Malaysia, thousands of fireflies congregate and flash in unison; the moon spins in perfect resonance with its orbit around the earth; our hearts depend on the synchronous firing of ten thousand pacemaker cells. While the forces that synchronize the flashing of fireflies may seem to have nothing to do with our heart cells, there is in fact a deep connection. Synchrony is a science in its infancy, and Strogatz is a pioneer in this new frontier in which mathematicians and physicists attempt to pinpoint just how spontaneous order emerges from chaos. From underground caves in Texas where a French scientist spent six months alone tracking his sleep-wake cycle, to the home of a Dutch physicist who in 1665 discovered two of his pendulum clocks swinging in perfect time, this fascinating book spans disciplines, continents, and centuries. Engagingly written for readers of books such as Chaos and The Elegant Universe, Sync is a tour-de-force of nonfiction writing.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - not great...
It covers a lot of topics and some of them are entertaining. But seems unfocused and hard to get a big picture.
Rating: - A disappointment
Author Steve Strogatz's book "Sync" ostensibly concerns the spontaneous synchronization of oscillators, where an "oscillator" is anything that exhibits periodic behavior -- be it a clock, a flashing firefly, or an electron in a superconductor.
The book is clearly modeled on James Gleick's book "Chaos": both books follow various researchers who originally work in isolation but who gradually recognize that they are investigating different aspects of the same phenomenon. As Gleick did ... Read More
Rating:  - Resonance
What I found most interesting about Strogatz's sync theory was the position that it did not require an extensive measure of complexity in order to achieve synchronization. It merely required a critical mass or critical repetition in order to effectuate a phase transformation. The phenomenon of resonance performs similarly. Synchronization may be a form of resonance which has been overlooked, thus far, in our reality (biosphere).
Rating:  - Heavy Science for Light Readers
What a fun book. Strogatz has managed to talk about the leading edge of mathematical modeling without a single equation! He uses a comfortable prose and never strays too far from the story of his research. The reader is treated to a view of the way that the world network of scientists organizes itself within areas of research and finds unions where research from one speciality can contribute to another. Who would have thought that the western power grid, the Internet Movie Database and the nervous ... Read More
Rating: - sync sync
This book gave both nature and theoretical explanation of what sync is and how it might
happen. Of course, its raminifaction still need a lot of exploration. This book is a good start and definite a good read for scientific inquiring mind. Read it and you know if you sync with this book.
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