Customer Reviews

Does God Play Dice?

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Being a physicist I frequently get bored with "science for the layman" books (for instance, Hawking's "Brief History of Time"). This was not the case with Stewart's "Dice" book. It is very well researched and written, in a style that wisely combines historical information with new discoveries, which are, therefore put into perspective. You can even try your hands in simple calculations with your PC. On the whole, a very balanced exposition, without, thank God!, the usual exageration on the place of chaos in the future of science. A very good place to start.

I read and thoroughly enjoyed the first edition and purchased the second for the three new chapters. This book is a fun romp through the subject matter, just mathematical enough to get the gist wthout getting bogged down. I read this book for the overview of the subject and am now going through the Strogatz textbook for the details.
One thing to be aware of is that the original books published by Blackwell are preferable to the Penguin reprints. The Penguin books have *much* smaller text and figures.

This mesmerizing historical overview of nonlinear science, full of seedy ideas and fascinating expositions (from heartbeat to weather forecast) is well worth reading. One of those "aha !" books that will broaden your understanding of the universe (and the rest), it is very "visual" and..well, a friend of mine said she considered it a "mental thriller" since it touches on the great old questions of determinism and predictability. As for "mathematics" in the title- don't be put off. The book is virtually mathless.

(1st edition '89) Stewart's book gives the reader as strong a flavor for the constructs of chaos as possible without formulas everywhere. The author makes great use of figures to depict ideas and even gives readers home-projects to test for themselves. Further reading is given (with difficulty levels indicated) for the brave-hearted. Unfortunately, the book is lacking as a reference due to it's vague table of contents and sparse index. But as compared to Mark Ward's "Beyond Chaos", Stewart gives the reader a deeper understanding of the subject matter. Overall good read.

Although chaos was a hype some years ago, it still is relevant to many branches of the physical and mathematical sciences. For non-mathematicians, like myself, it is quite difficult to get some good, solid, reliable information about what chaos theory is all about. Ian Stewart is that source of reliable information, and if you want to know what chaos is about, read this book first.

Stewart's approach is down-to-earth, leaving all the mystical ideas about the interconnectedness of the universe, behind. However, that does not mean that his writing is dull in any way. On the contrary, one can feel Stewart's enthousiasm for the mathematical weirdness of chaotic systems on every page. And the informal language and many puns make it a delight to read this book.

Stewart describes how chaotic behavior was discovered in the late 1800s but was forgotten for nearly a century. He describes how mathematical chaos relates to chaotic features of the empirical world such as the butterfly effect (quite a difficult subject, but Stewart does a magnificant job here). And he points to some of the ramification of chaos for our thinking about the universe (determinism and all that stuff).

All in all - a book that will make you think about the world in a different way.

The best mathematical models for many physical events rely on chaotic formulas and the number continues to grow rapidly. It now appears that some exposure to chaos and fractals will be a necessary component of the education of all future applied mathematicians. Given the simplicity of many of the equations, it can be strongly argued that chaos should be an early component of all mathematics education. Also, programming a computer to generate the images is very simple and a lot of fun.
To study chaos, you need a place to start, and this book will point you in the right direction and give you a brisk tail wind. The author, best known for his mathematics columns in Scientific American, writes with exceptional clarity. There are very few equations, as Stewart relies extensively on the verbal explanation. While computer generation is mentioned, only one very short BASIC program is given.
The material is pretty standard for introductory chaos and could serve as a textbook for a non-mathematical course in the subject. It would also be valuable reading for a course in the philosophy of science. Fairly extensive historical backgrounds are given for many of the initial discoveries.
If you have heard about chaos and want to know what all the excitement is about or are looking for reading material for a class you are teaching, this book is an excellent place to explore.

Published in Journal of Recreational Mathematics, reprinted with permission.

It was one of the first books on chaos I read before take more advanced papers and books, and it is very clarifying in the basic ideas of this new and amazing world. I strongly recomend it for beginers and science's lovers.

I have a thirst for knowledge...especially the questionable kind. Most of Ian's writing is proven fact, although most work in chaos is theoretical. If you want an introductory into chaos theory, this is your book.

This is a good book for those who are either starting to learn about chaos and nonlinear dynamics or those who would just like an overall view of what the subject is about without getting bogged down into heavy-duty math. This book has two distinct themes. One is to explain the mathematical concept of chaos, and why it is both natural and inevitable. The other is to ask the rather long question "Does the mathematical model of chaos exist in the real world, and does it help us understand some of the things that we see?".

This book covers a variety of subjects that might at first seem unrelated - mathematical history, various chaotic models, weather patterns, applications - but by the end of the book everything comes together to give you a good overall view of the field. This second edition is mainly different from the first in the added three chapters on applications. These chapters cover prediction in chaotic systems, the control of chaotic systems, and then there is a speculative chapter that attempts to explain how the concept of chaos might lead to a new answer to Einstein's famous question which is also the title of this book.

This book requires more imagination and an ability to visualize than a talent for mathematics, and it makes a good introduction to more technical books on the subject such as "Nonlinear Dynamics and Chaos" by Strogatz. Of course, that book requires much more in the way of mathematical maturity. This book looks more at the forest, the Strogatz book looks more at the trees.

A good book, but it's kind of deep if you are not a Math major. I'm an Engineer and a Computer Scientist, and while it was not as tough as Calculus book, it was not light reading. But hey- Any book that considers God and Newton, in the same chapter is not a coffee table book. Stewart's writing and the thoughts presented require serious thought, and a pad and pencil at your side are clearly helpful here. It is refreshing to see that writers like Stewart recognize the clarity of great thinkers like Newton, and Einstein, et al. and their recognition of God.