Images of a Complex World: The Art And Poetry of Chaos [Hardcover]

Robin S. Chapman (Author), Julien Clinton Sprott (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 9812564004 | ISBN-13: 978-9812564009 | Publication Date: November 2005

This coffee-table book will delight and inform general readers curious about ideas of chaos, fractals, and nonlinear complex systems. Developed out of ten years of interdisciplinary seminars in chaos and complex systems at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, it features multiple ways of knowing: Robin Chapman's poems of everyday experience of change in a complex world, associated metaphorically with Julien Clinton Sprott's full-color computer art generated from billions of versions of only three simple equations for strange attractors, Julia sets, and iterated function systems; his definitions of 39 key terms; a mathematical appendix; and even a multiple-choice quiz to test understanding. Accompanied by a CD-ROM of the poet reading 13 poems and 1,000 images of chaos art from which slide shows can be generated and 100 high-resolution posters created. It also includes a foreword by Cliff Pickover, author of "A Passion for Mathematics".

Editorial Reviews

Review

Images of a Complex World showcases Chapman's considerable skills as a poet and Sprott's polished ability as a pedagogue. -- Nonlinear Dynamics, Psychology, and Life Sciences

This collection of Chapman's poems with Sprott's visual art and mathematical expositions is a welcome compilation and nicely shows the breadth of their work. -- The Mathematical Intelligencer

Images of a Complex World is an intriguing interdisciplinary effort ... In summary: a provocative book; some striking images and poetry, new ideas. --Journal of Mathematics and the Arts

Product Details

• Hardcover: 200 pages
• Publisher: World Scientific Pub Co Inc (November 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9812564004
• ISBN-13: 978-9812564009
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 8.7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,449,194 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Truth and Beauty, November 15, 2005

By 

Susan Elbe "Poet" (Madison, WI USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Images of a Complex World: The Art and Poetry of Chaos (Paperback)

I had the good fortune to see this book in the making when it was a thick sheaf of flimsy printer paper. The words and images collided in gorgeous ways, and I knew something special was taking form.

I love what Robin Chapman and Clint Sprott have done. I love this book. More collaborations like this should be undertaken. It deepens our sensibilities. It enlarges our world. It does something graceful for the heart. The fractal images are beautifully rendered and Sprott's clear, concise definitions of key terms illuminate them for the lay reader. Chapman's poems are in perfect alignment with both the fractals and definitions, showing us "life on the edge of change at every scale."

Here's a coffee table book that goes beyond decoration. Here's a book of poetry that goes beyond words. Here's science that makes itself accessible. I highly recommend this book to artists, scientists, and everyone else who wants to make the connections that help us explain our world and our lives.