Complex and Adaptive Dynamical Systems: A Primer (Springer Complexity) [Paperback]

Claudius Gros (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 14, 2008 | ISBN-10: 3540718737 | ISBN-13: 978-3540718734 | Edition: 1st ed.2008. Corr. 2nd printing

Helping us understand our complex world, this book presents key findings in quantitative complex system science. Its approach is modular and phenomenology driven. Examples of phenomena treated in the book include the small world phenomenon in social and scale-free networks; life at the edge of chaos; the concept of living dynamical systems; and emotional diffusive control within cognitive system theory. Each chapter includes exercises to test your grasp of new material. Written at an introductory level, the author provides an accessible entry for graduate students in physics, mathematics, and theoretical computer science.

Editorial Reviews

Review

From the reviews:

"This is a very interesting introductory book written for a broad audience of graduate students in natural sciences and engineering. It can be equally well used both for teaching and self-education. … very well structured and every topic is illustrated by simple and motivating examples. This is a true guidebook to the world of complex nonlinear phenomena. … Every chapter is followed by theoretical and computational exercises (with detailed solutions presented at the end of the book) and a list of references for further reading." (Ilya Pavlyukevich, Zentralblatt MATH, Vol. 1146, 2008)

"Claudius Gros’s Complex and Adaptive Dynamical Systems: A Primer is a welcome addition to the literature. … A particular strength of the book is its emphasis on analytical techniques for studying complex systems. … Gros’s book is for a fairly advanced and mathematically sophisticated audience … in the field. … Complex and Adaptive Dynamical Systems could be a fine option for well-prepared students looking for a focused introduction to complex systems … ." (David P. Feldman, Physics Today, July, 2009)

From the Back Cover

We are living in an ever more complex world, an epoch where human actions can accordingly acquire far-reaching potentialities. Complex and adaptive dynamical systems are ubiquitous in the world surrounding us and require us to adapt to new realities and the way of dealing with them.

This primer has been developed with the aim of conveying a wide range of "commons-sense" knowledge in the field of quantitative complex system science at an introductory level, providing an entry point to this both fascinating and vitally important subject.

The approach is modular and phenomenology driven. Examples of emerging phenomena of generic importance treated in this book are:

-- The small world phenomenon in social and scale-free networks.

-- Phase transitions and self-organized criticality in adaptive systems.

-- Life at the edge of chaos and coevolutionary avalanches resulting from the unfolding of all living.

-- The concept of living dynamical systems and emotional diffusive control within cognitive system theory.

Technical course prerequisites are a basic knowledge of ordinary and partial differential equations and of statistics. Each chapter comes with exercises and suggestions for further reading - solutions to the exercises are also provided.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 250 pages
• Publisher: Springer; 1st ed.2008. Corr. 2nd printing edition (January 14, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 3540718737
• ISBN-13: 978-3540718734
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,195,574 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars All the applications of the modern mathematics., December 20, 2010

By 

Edoardo Angeloni "Mathematics teacher" (Teramo , Italy) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Complex and Adaptive Dynamical Systems: A Primer (Springer Complexity) (Paperback)

Gros give us a complete description of the applications of the chaos theory. Those facts is related to the genethics, cellular automata and networks. The quantity of arguments don't allow a mathematical explication apted to understand the proof, but it is a very interesting view about all the modern applications of mathematics.