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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... things are now have huge consequences in the way things will be in the future. It would be cheating, of course, if things just happened randomly, or if everything continually exploded forever. This book traces out the remarkable ...
... things are now have huge consequences in the way things will be in the future. It would be cheating, of course, if things just happened randomly, or if everything continually exploded forever. This book traces out the remarkable ...
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... thing, a small thing that could upset balances and knock down a line of small dominoes and then big dominoes and then gigantic dominoes, all down the years across Time. Ray Bradbury (1952) Three hallmarks of mathematical chaos The ...
... thing, a small thing that could upset balances and knock down a line of small dominoes and then big dominoes and then gigantic dominoes, all down the years across Time. Ray Bradbury (1952) Three hallmarks of mathematical chaos The ...
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... things to fear. The butterfly effect contrasts different worlds: one world with the nail and another world without that nail. The Burns effect places the focus firmly on us and our attempts to make rational decisions in the real world ...
... things to fear. The butterfly effect contrasts different worlds: one world with the nail and another world without that nail. The Burns effect places the focus firmly on us and our attempts to make rational decisions in the real world ...
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... things that we forecast, weather and climate can be used to represent short-range forecasting and long-range modelling, respectively. 'When is the next solar eclipse?' would be a weather-like question in astronomy, while 'Is the solar ...
... things that we forecast, weather and climate can be used to represent short-range forecasting and long-range modelling, respectively. 'When is the next solar eclipse?' would be a weather-like question in astronomy, while 'Is the solar ...
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... things are trivial to predict, especially if they have to do with mathematics itself, while other things seem predictable, sometimes: A total eclipse of the sun, visible in Cornwall is prophesied for 11 August 1999 ... I might venture ...
... things are trivial to predict, especially if they have to do with mathematics itself, while other things seem predictable, sometimes: A total eclipse of the sun, visible in Cornwall is prophesied for 11 August 1999 ... I might venture ...
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