The Essence of Chaos (The Jessie and John Danz Lecture Series) (Paperback)

~ (Author) "WORDS are not living creatures; they cannot breathe, nor walk, nor become fond of one another..." (more)
Key Phrases: sled model, limited chaos, nonperiodic solutions, European Centre, Global Atmospheric Research Program, James Gleick (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

The study of chaotic systems has become a major scientific pursuit in recent years, shedding light on the apparently random behaviour observed in fields as diverse as climatology and mechanics. InThe Essence of Chaos Edward Lorenz, one of the founding fathers of Chaos and the originator of its seminal concept of the Butterfly Effect, presents his own landscape of our current understanding of the field.
Lorenz presents everyday examples of chaotic behaviour, such as the toss of a coin, the pinball's path, the fall of a leaf, and explains in elementary mathematical strms how their essentially chaotic nature can be understood. His principal example involved the construction of a model of a board sliding down a ski slope. Through this model Lorenz illustrates chaotic phenomena and the related concepts of bifurcation and strange attractors. He also provides the context in which chaos can be related to the similarly emergent fields of nonlinearity, complexity and fractals.
As an early pioneer of chaos, Lorenz also provides his own story of the human endeavour in developing this new field. He describes his initial encounters with chaos through his study of climate and introduces many of the personalities who contributed early breakthroughs. His seminal paper, Does the Flap of a Butterfly's Wing in Brazil Set Off a Tornado in Texas? is published for the first time. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 227 pages
• Publisher: University of Washington Press (April 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0295975148
• ISBN-13: 978-0295975146
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #27,938 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

76 of 77 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Essence of Chaos: A great primer on chaos theory., August 23, 1998

By	Brandon R. Julio ([e-mail]) (Bluffdale, Utah) - See all my reviews

Edward Lorenz takes a complicated topic and makes it accessible for all people, regardless of prior knowledge of chaos theory. He provides interesting and easy to follow examples of chaos, fractals and complexity. The illustrations are helpful and he includes a glossary of terms to aid the beginning chaos enthusiasts to quickly become familiar with the terminology. Mr. Lorenz gives a brief history of chaos and explains how it is used in the study of mathematics, meteorology, economics, music, and other fields. The book is very interesting and is highly recommended for those who would like to acquaint themselves with the exciting world of chaos.

84 of 89 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Chaos Primer, August 8, 2000

By	Whitfield (Houston, TX United States) - See all my reviews

My first intro to chaos was Gleick's book *Chaos: Making a New Science* which focused on the history of the discovery of chaos. Although this was fascinating - and a good read for those just learning about dynamical systems, strange attractors, and the like - Lorenz's *Essence of Chaos* was much more satisfying. Lorenz analyzes specific chaotic functions, gives you the math (equations are in the appendix) and generally accomplishes what the title suggests - that is, exploring the essence of chaos. I highly recommend it for anyone interested in this deeply fascinating subject.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Essence of chaos book by E.Lorenz , October 13, 2007

By	Intars (Riga , Latvia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Lorenz did a great job when he wrote this book!
The very first time when I heard of chaos theory was year ago while watching some old documentary about Nostadamus. In film was mentioned chaos theory and said that acceptance of it by many people could change whole look to life and so on. Movie left to me questions - what is that theory, what it's standing for.
Finaly my interest lead me to this book and it clearly showed me what kind of staff is that chaos theory! That was and is really intriguing!
Book is well written. There was of course some places that wasn't easy to understand. I myself have studied high math,encountered differential equations but anyway had some difficulties. That's why not 5 stars to book - it's really not for absolutely everyone although almost close to it. I couldn't stop it reading, I was done in two days.
This book encouraged me for further reading.