Complexity and Chaos

by Roger White, Edwin Newman (Translation)

In the regular, clock-like world of Newtonian physics, randomness was equated with incomplete knowledge. But scientists in the late 20th century have found patterns in things formerly thought to be chaotic; their theories help explain the unstable irregular yet highly structured features of everyday experience. It now seems likely that randomness and chaos play an essential role in the evolution of the living world-and of intelligence itself. Script by Dr. Roger White.

Genres: Science, Physics, Nonfiction, Audiobook, History, Biology, Popular Science

ebook

First published June 1, 1994

About the author

Librarian Note: There are more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Kunal Sen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here's an excellent monograph about a fascinating topic. The subjects of non-linear systems, chaos theory, fractals and cellular automata, and self-organizing systems are clearly introduced and their connections explained. I am not fully convinced by some of their arguments about entropy and the arrow of time, but still it was brilliantly presented. A perfect introduction to this fascinating subject, but some scientific training would help to get the most out of this short book.

[Charlene · Rating 4 out of 5]

This very short audiobook, available for free if your library participates in hoopla, does an excellent job of introducing the reader to:

complexity
self-organizing systems
chaos
information theory
power laws (even though it was written before much of the work on power laws and nodes had been carried out)
phase transitions
evolution
the arrow of time
thermodynamics (made extremely simple)
strange attractors
fractals
scaling
and more

Unlike other books on complexity, this book focused only in part on Mandelbrot and instead focused heavily on Prigogine, who is as a result now one of my very favorite scientists. It started a bit slow, going over the usual subjects covered in many books on complexity. Don't let that stop you from continuing onward, even if you are well versed in chaos theory. The audiobook included the voices of the actual experts in the field of complexity. What a treat to hear them read their own words back to the listener. Brilliant way to make an audiobook.

Not too long ago I read Geoffrey West's book on Scaling in Biology. It, along with his talks, provided some of the most exciting ideas I have read in a long time. This book reminded me a bit of that. The author and guest scientists covered the role chaos and complexity play in the development of cities, cells, more complex living organisms, as well as in the universe at large.

In such a small amount of time the author put together a very simple and extremely clear explanation of a very complex concept. I recommend this 2 hour audiobook to anyone who would like to learn more about the universe in which they live. As soon as I finished the book, I read it again. Loved even more the second time around.

For more information on chaos and complexity here are two links that I have found very helpful:

BBC 1 hr show on fractals (amazing documentary)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s65DS...

A 1 1/2 hr lecture on chaos from Robert Sapolsky (I highly recommend the entire lecture series)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_ZuW...

[Alex Shrugged · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a summary of Chaos Theory with quotes from several people in the field. Since this is an audiobook, some of the quotes are simulated by actors, but other quotes are voiced by the original people.

Something unique about this audiobook that I found helpful was the way they used sound to "illustrate" fractals and complexity theory. These types of books (when they are in written form) come with a lot of pretty graphics and diagrams. Since this is an audiobook they could not resort to illustrations so they used sound, and did so effectively.

I'd listen to this audio course again.

[Heather Denkmire · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the kind of book that has me stopping every few paragraphs to grasp what was just said and writing all kinds of interrelated ideas down once I "got" it. It has motivated me to get back to some of the subjects I've been fascinated with over the last year or two (values come from metaphorical thought, for example). I'm also interested to learn more about chaos.

There was a bit of a slow chunk in the middle when it got into artificial intelligence. A sort of parents on Charlie Brown feeling of wah-wah-wah-wah-wah-wah-wah and it was difficult for me to follow. Other than that, it was challenging in a great way. It was a sort of basic primer or text book, I suppose, on these concepts. I liked how it was accessible but not too dumbed-down.

[Jun · Rating 5 out of 5]

The range of topics covered is comprehensive, the explanations are clear and correct, and the examples are concrete and helpful. It’s a very good introduction, especially in its audiobook form, which has interesting audio examples.

[Петр Федичев · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best opening in a physics textbook I know ("States of Matter" by D.L. Goodstein) is: “Ludwig Boltzmann, who spent much of his life studying statistical mechanics, died in 1906, by his own hand. Paul Ehrenfest, carrying on the work, died similarly in 1933. Now it is our turn to study statistical mechanics.”

I have just finished reading the popular book "Complexity and Chaos" by R. White (see the first comment). The last century saw many scientific revolutions, and narratives about concepts like quantum mechanics and the theory of relativity have become "understandable" and are now parts of general culture. However, the general public needs to catch up on transformative changes in statistical mechanics and physics of complex systems. This book is a commendable effort to bridge this gap, particularly in its last few chapters.

According to the author, the notions of reversibility and entropy are so hard to comprehend that even physicists are afraid to touch them. Speaking from personal experience, I often felt entropy is not real after attending lectures. It may be a computational convenience, but still a misunderstanding! At the level of individual parts of a system, everything is reversible! It's tempting to think that if we gather more data, some more intricate information about the system, build more instruments, and connect more computers, we could reverse everything or turn it wherever we want?

The chemist and Nobel laureate Prigogine pointed out that, unlike in the good old days back in the 19th and early 20th centuries, these days, we deal with systems where statistical physics is fundamental and the second law of thermodynamics creates the time and thus defines the dynamic systems. Many researchers still lack courage to recognise this and find refuge by observing the connection between entropy and information - the increasing entropy measures the lost information about the initial conditions required to reverse the state of a system. If a planet on the Outer Rim is lost, Master Yoda told the younglings, can it not be found again?

Hayflick noted that aging is not just a biological problem but also a problem for physics. If this is true, then it is time for biologists to study statistical mechanics. And as you can see now well, approaching this topic requires great caution.

Recently, we have been seeing references to information theory in the field of aging and even about information theory of aging. We have also heard about the prospects of reversing aging through massive measurements and personalised health improvement plans.

The arrow of time does not turn back if you use the word "information" instead of "entropy". If patients use the word "information" instead of "entropy,” it means they are in the denial stage. We have reached the acceptance stage in Gero and are now thinking about what the textbook does not prohibit us from thinking about - how to stop the increase of entropy and, therefore, aging.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent introduction to the themes in a short book, though I suspect more than a little out of date in some areas. It generally keeps things pretty high level and is good on the philosophical implications of complexity and chaos theory. And it brings together thinking from a very broad range of people, not only from Benoit Mandelbrot and Lorenz but also Ilya Prigogine and even Katherine Hayles.

It's chief fault is an anti-physics stance which I think may have been common in the early years of the subject, based on a flawed understanding of entropy and its place in physics. There's a factual error here too - the second law of thermodynamics does not originate with Boltzmann as stated.

All in all, though, this contains so much and is so clear, that it's worth overlooking these gripes. It was included in Audible when I wrote this review.

[Adam · Rating 1 out of 5]

Okay, this concept was good but horrifically executed. I listened to the audiobook version and they came up with the idea of using seemingly authentic (I think – I'm too ignorant/British) accents for people like Galileo and Boltzmann. So for example, if they were quoting Galileo they would use some Italian guy to do the vocals. The problem with this is that their accents were so thick that I often had no idea what they were saying. I'm not talking about when Michael Bisping (Mancunian UFC middlweight) talks in a promo and because the average American hasn't ventured beyond their garden (not being serious, chill) they need to add subtitles. I'm talking about accents that pronounce English words in ways that often render them unintelligible.

It's also really dry.

Anyway, maybe the written version is better. Fuck knows. 9/5 stars.

[Jude · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating. I first became interested in complex systems while reading "Team of Teams" by Stan McChrystal. This short but informative book takes complexity to another level by featuring its core contributors such as Benoit Mandelbrot, Christopher Langton, and Katherine Hales. The book provides easily digestible material on fractals, attractors, entropy, and other important complexity and chaos concepts.

[Emil Petersen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This felt like a short rehash of James Gleick's "Chaos", which is a good thing. It's very short and concise about the core ideas and concepts. If I had to do it over I would read them the other way round, starting with this one, then on to "Chaos", and from there then probably a real textbook on the subject.

[Debabrata Ghosh · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a nice introduction to the world of self-regulation, fractals, cellular automata, and chaos in non-linear dynamics and the order disorder dispute to explain the real world complexity. Although sometimes I felt lost in the narrative too much due to lack of connection built among the different chapters and apparent non-linearity of the writing itself.

[Garth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't think that I would become as interested in Chaos Theory as I am as a result of reading this superb book. It's one of those books that has you thinking about the subject long after you read it.

[Desollado · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good and accesible.

[Eric Winter · Rating 3 out of 5]

A reasonably good high level survey of the field in the late 20th century. Many interesting quotes.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short read / listen but lots of content broken down into consumable sections. A good first step into the scientific fields of complexity and chaos.

[Ga · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting and short audiobook.

Very good, basic introduction to several different theories.

Will definitely recommend and add to my list to read again in future.

[Jason Griggs · Rating 2 out of 5]

This audiobook has an incredibly small target audience (thermodynamics professors). That may not have been the author's intent, but the information is so condensed that it covers what could be a one-hour lecture in every two sentences. Those new to thermodynamics will need to hit the pause button frequently.

If you are already quite familiar with thermodynamics and are looking for an interesting discussion of non-equilibrium systems, the nature of life, and consciousness, then you might enjoy this book. It is not well written, but there are some very interesting ideas discussed in the second half.

[Jason Griggs · Rating 2 out of 5]

This audiobook has an incredibly small target audience (thermodynamics professors). That may not have been the author's intent, but the information is so condensed that it covers what could be a one-hour lecture in every two sentences. Those new to thermodynamics will need to hit the pause button frequently.

If you are already quite familiar with thermodynamics and are looking for an interesting discussion of non-equilibrium systems, the nature of life, and consciousness, then you might enjoy this book. It is not well written, but there are some very interesting ideas discussed in the second half.

[Tracy Brower · Rating 1 out of 5]

For myself as a non-scientist this wasn’t riveting. Perhaps for a scientist it would be? Also it had so many direct quotes that it just got distracting. I wish the author had integrated more of the ideas (giving proper credit, of course) rather than interrupting the flow of the book with all the direct quotes.

[Kenny Lawrence]

Mind blown! I’ve thought for awhile that I was needing an introduction to chaos theory, and this was it. Now I understand how to start thinking about this topic and what books I need to study next.

[Sameer Alshenawi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting but I have to admit that this topic is difficult