Celestial Encounters by Florin Diacu  (6)
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Serendipity: Accidental Discoveries in Science by Royston M. Roberts  (2)
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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Peterson ( The Mathematical Tourist ) is well-suited to wean the general reader away from one of everyday science's most comforting and tenacious illusions--namely, that the solar system operates on a giant stable clockwork system. As this historical treatment demonstrates, some 300 years before the development of the computer, mathematical astronomers offered theories in line with today's current chaos and dynamic systems theories. Even in astronomy's earliest days, perturbations of some planetary bodies defied Newton's mechanics; centuries of interaction between astronomical theory and observation have demanded that serious stargazers take account of complexity and chaotic phenomena. In Peterson's long view, this is a mathematically meaty story. The few (and insufficient) basic calculus formulas included are presented in sidebars; many of the illustrations depict historical models or manuscripts. Readers grounded in number theory will most fully appreciate the progression of the astronomical issues covered here.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
This is a history of human efforts to understand the mechanics of the solar system, reaching from classical Greece to the present. By the time of Isaac Newton, there was reason to hope that the stability of the solar system could be proven and that its mechanics could be reduced to the precision of clockwork. However, it gradually became clear that the basic equations could not be solved with absolute precision; we are still not assured that the orbits of the Earth and the other planets are stable. Further, there is a fundamental indeterminancy in solar system mechanics that cannot be avoided. Peterson, a science journalist, has told his story in a lively and very readable fashion. Necessarily, he has included a modest amount of technical detail, but the volume should be fully intelligible to lay readers with a bit of background in the physical sciences. Recommended for academic and public libraries.
- Jack W. Weigel, Univ. of Michigan Lib., Ann Arbor
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
See all Editorial Reviews
Peterson ( The Mathematical Tourist ) is well-suited to wean the general reader away from one of everyday science's most comforting and tenacious illusions--namely, that the solar system operates on a giant stable clockwork system. As this historical treatment demonstrates, some 300 years before the development of the computer, mathematical astronomers offered theories in line with today's current chaos and dynamic systems theories. Even in astronomy's earliest days, perturbations of some planetary bodies defied Newton's mechanics; centuries of interaction between astronomical theory and observation have demanded that serious stargazers take account of complexity and chaotic phenomena. In Peterson's long view, this is a mathematically meaty story. The few (and insufficient) basic calculus formulas included are presented in sidebars; many of the illustrations depict historical models or manuscripts. Readers grounded in number theory will most fully appreciate the progression of the astronomical issues covered here.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
This is a history of human efforts to understand the mechanics of the solar system, reaching from classical Greece to the present. By the time of Isaac Newton, there was reason to hope that the stability of the solar system could be proven and that its mechanics could be reduced to the precision of clockwork. However, it gradually became clear that the basic equations could not be solved with absolute precision; we are still not assured that the orbits of the Earth and the other planets are stable. Further, there is a fundamental indeterminancy in solar system mechanics that cannot be avoided. Peterson, a science journalist, has told his story in a lively and very readable fashion. Necessarily, he has included a modest amount of technical detail, but the volume should be fully intelligible to lay readers with a bit of background in the physical sciences. Recommended for academic and public libraries.
- Jack W. Weigel, Univ. of Michigan Lib., Ann Arbor
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
See all Editorial Reviews
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19
books
cite this book:
See all 19 books citing this book
- Celestial Encounters by Florin Diacu in Front Matter, page 45, and page 170
- Fatal Defect: Chasing Killer Computer Bugs by Ivars Peterson in Front Matter (1), and Front Matter (2)
- Songs without Music: Aesthetic Dimensions of Law and Justice (Philosophy, Social Theory, and the Rule of Law) by Desmond Manderson in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Large-Scale Atmosphere-Ocean Dynamics by John Norbury on page 68, and page 108
- The Scientific American Book of the Cosmos by David Levy in Back Matter
See all 19 books citing this book