Chaos Theory Tamed

by Garnett P. Williams

Looks at the principles of chaos science and describes how small changes in initial conditions can contribute to unexpected results

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Mathematics, Physics, Biology, Education

520 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1997

Reviews

[Glenn Russell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not being a mathematician myself, I’ve always found chaos theory a bit of a chaos. This book helped a bit, but much of the content was beyond me. I offer my microfiction below as an example of what I think the world might look like if chaos theory became a social reality:

CHAOS
A wife is a little confused – instead of her car, she drops off her husband for a change of oil and a tune-up. So this husband sits in the waiting room until they call his name, then he reeves up his legs and flops on the hydraulic lift as the mechanics, also a little confused, hoist him up.

They take his teeth for the grill, his hands and feet for the tires. The man keeps himself flat, he’s more than a little confused, having been hoisted up on his belly by the hydraulic lift. His arms and legs dangle, his heart is pumping, a heart the confused mechanics take for an engine.

One of the mechanics opens the man’s mouth and takes his tongue for a cylinder and his throat for the radiator. He announces to the crew, “Needs new points and plugs.”

“How much longer am I going to be up here?” the man asks.

One of the confused mechanics shrugs his shoulders and whispers, “Everyone is in such a rush these days; they should know this stuff takes time.”

When the mechanics are through, thee man has a couple of incisions in his back, the front of his head is shaved, his pants are pulled down, his balls smeared with grease and an inspection sticker plastered on the right cheek of his ass.

The confused mechanics lead him out to where he will squat on the oil-stained asphalt between a truck and a convertible until his wife comes back to pick him up.

The wife returns and asks, ”How’s it running?”

“Shouldn’t give you too many problems” says a mechanic, “now that we gave her the once over.”

The wife leads her husband away on a leash and when she passes another mechanic, the one who did most of the work, he tells her, “Lady, keep an eye on that stick shift of yours. It’s acting kind of funny. Try not to grind through the gears or you’re really gonna have problems.”

[Paige McLoughlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good educational resource and relatively easy to follow because it treats heavy math the right way. Explains the concepts and the math and how to use it. It doesn't waste time on minutae of proving the equations with tedious rigor it assumes you trust the mathematicians who proved it and doesn't waste time. The perfect smash and grab use of math that physicists and engineers love (cuts to the chase). It has a breezy style that makes it a reading pleasure without too much backtracking ("Wait, what is the author getting at?" bullshit of rigor "Mortis" treatment). Highly recommended for entry-level stem person.

[Clay Olmstead · Rating 3 out of 5]

The basics of chaos theory, ostensibly told with all the necessary mathematical background embedded in the explanations. I walked away with a working knowledge of chaos theory, but I have to say I'm skeptical that a person without a background in math could say the same. The math theory is so cursory it might be more confusing than edifying.

It's worth reading if you already have an understanding of statistics, spline interpolation and Fourier transforms. . Otherwise, your time might be better spent contemplating raindrops on a window.

[Paige McLoughlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good hands-on primer for Chaos, Fractals, and Power laws. Gets you to understand basic concepts and applications in the field. It holds your hand with basic concepts and builds from there to some high-level stuff. Definitely good for someone who wants to work in this area but doesn't know much at the start.

Update 2/11/2023 The first part of the book is the math needed to understand the concepts behind Chaos theory and the second part of the book is the science behind it. Very good for getting someone with little background a good understanding of Chaos theory.

[Joey Zhouyuan · Rating 5 out of 5]

friendly language, nicely tamed theory. Very creative combination with wave analysis. OK test

[Libby · Rating 4 out of 5]

The math was a little over my head, but the explanations and language made it clear and fairly accessible.