Chaos: A Very Short IntroductionOUP Oxford, 22/02/2007 - 200 páginas Chaos exists in systems all around us. Even the simplest system of cause and effect can be subject to chaos, denying us accurate predictions of its behaviour, and sometimes giving rise to astonishing structures of large-scale order. Our growing understanding of Chaos Theory is having fascinating applications in the real world - from technology to global warming, politics, human behaviour, and even gambling on the stock market. Leonard Smith shows that we all have an intuitive understanding of chaotic systems. He uses accessible maths and physics (replacing complex equations with simple examples like pendulums, railway lines, and tossing coins) to explain the theory, and points to numerous examples in philosophy and literature (Edgar Allen Poe, Chang-Tzu, Arthur Conan Doyle) that illuminate the problems. The beauty of fractal patterns and their relation to chaos, as well as the history of chaos, and its uses in the real world and implications for the philosophy of science are all discussed in this Very Short Introduction. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable. |
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... fact. Indeed, these ideas were well grounded in fiction before they were accepted as fact: perhaps the public were already well versed in the implications of chaos, while the scientists remained in denial? Great scientists and ...
... fact. Indeed, these ideas were well grounded in fiction before they were accepted as fact: perhaps the public were already well versed in the implications of chaos, while the scientists remained in denial? Great scientists and ...
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... fact that the nail had gone missing. In fact, of course, there either was a nail or there was not. But Poor Richard tells us that if the nail hadn't been lost, then the kingdom wouldn't have been lost either. We will often explore the ...
... fact that the nail had gone missing. In fact, of course, there either was a nail or there was not. But Poor Richard tells us that if the nail hadn't been lost, then the kingdom wouldn't have been lost either. We will often explore the ...
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... fact that sensitive dependence would make detailed forecasts of the weather difficult, and perhaps even limit the scope of physics, has been recognized within both science and fiction for some time. In 1874, the physicist James Clerk ...
... fact that sensitive dependence would make detailed forecasts of the weather difficult, and perhaps even limit the scope of physics, has been recognized within both science and fiction for some time. In 1874, the physicist James Clerk ...
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... fact, managed gusts of over 100 miles per hour, and the Burns' Day storm caused much greater loss of life; yet 20 years after the event, the Great Storm of 1987 is much more often discussed, perhaps exactly because the Burns' Day storm ...
... fact, managed gusts of over 100 miles per hour, and the Burns' Day storm caused much greater loss of life; yet 20 years after the event, the Great Storm of 1987 is much more often discussed, perhaps exactly because the Burns' Day storm ...
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... fact and scientific fiction, is the root of much confusion regarding chaos both by the public and among scientists. It was research into nonlinearity and chaos that clarified yet again how import this distinction remains. In Chapter 10 ...
... fact and scientific fiction, is the root of much confusion regarding chaos both by the public and among scientists. It was research into nonlinearity and chaos that clarified yet again how import this distinction remains. In Chapter 10 ...
Índice
1 | |
2 Exponential growth nonlinearity common sense | 22 |
determinism randomness and noise | 33 |
4 Chaos in mathematical models | 58 |
5 Fractals strange attractors and dimensions | 76 |
6 Quantifying the dynamics of uncertainty | 87 |
7 Real numbers real observations and computers | 104 |
statistics and chaos | 112 |
does chaos constrain our forecasts? | 123 |
can we see through our models? | 132 |
11 Philosophy in chaos | 154 |
Glossary | 163 |
Further reading | 169 |
Index | 173 |
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Palavras e frases frequentes
21st-century demon Apprentice Map attractor average Baker’s Map behaviour bell-shaped distribution best models bits butterfly effect chaotic systems climate models components computer simulations Day storm decision support define digital computer dimension dynamical system Earth’s ECMWF ensemble forecast ensemble members equations error exponential growth fact fractal Full Logistic Map future Galton Board golf balls Hénon Hénon Map impact infinitesimal initial condition insight iteration least squares look Lorenz Lyapunov exponent mathematical chaos mathematical map mathematical models mathematical systems mathematicians mature pair measure model inadequacy Moore-Spiegel NAG Board nonlinear systems number of rabbits observational noise panel parameter values perfect model periodic loop physical systems physicist population predictability probability forecasts quantify question random number real world reflect scientists self-similar sensitive dependence shadow solar space statistician statistics stochastic study of chaos temperature Tent Map Theorem things today’s trajectory voles weather forecasting weather model zero