Chaos: Making a New Science 1st Edition

by James Gleick (Author)

268 customer reviews

ISBN-13: 978-0140092509

ISBN-10: 0140092501

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Explains the meaning and application of chaos--the study of patterns emerging from seemingly random phenomena--and introduces the scientists responsible for major discoveries in this field

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Few writers distinguish themselves by their ability to write about complicated, even obscure topics clearly and engagingly. James Gleick, a former science writer for the New York Times, resides in this exclusive category. In Chaos, he takes on the job of depicting the first years of the study of chaos--the seemingly random patterns that characterize many natural phenomena.

This is not a purely technical book. Instead, it focuses as much on the scientists studying chaos as on the chaos itself. In the pages of Gleick's book, the reader meets dozens of extraordinary and eccentric people. For instance, Mitchell Feigenbaum, who constructed and regulated his life by a 26-hour clock and watched his waking hours come in and out of phase with those of his coworkers at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

As for chaos itself, Gleick does an outstanding job of explaining the thought processes and investigative techniques that researchers bring to bear on chaos problems. Rather than attempt to explain Julia sets, Lorenz attractors, and the Mandelbrot Set with gigantically complicated equations, Chaos relies on sketches, photographs, and Gleick's wonderful descriptive prose.

From Publishers Weekly

Gleick here adventurously attempts to describe the revolutionary science of "chaos," a challengingly abstract new look at nature in terms of nonlinear dynamics. "A ground-breaking book about what seems to be the future of physics," praised PW. Illustrated. 100,000 first printing; author tour.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product details

Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: Penguin Books; 1st edition (December 1, 1988)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0140092501
ISBN-13: 978-0140092509
Product Dimensions: 6 x 1 x 9 inches
Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 268 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,673,542 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #172 in Books > Science & Math > Physics > Chaos Theory
- #3978 in Books > Textbooks > Science & Mathematics > Physics
- #8306 in Books > Science & Math > History & Philosophy

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Customer reviews

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from California

Important book for scientists, tough read for laypersons

June 4, 2016

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

This book describes the beginnings of an important theory that explains many patterns and behaviors observed in nature that are not usually discussed in traditional science classes even to this day. It's not an easy read but the book's content is well worth the effort especially to those interested in science and how nature "works".

I believe this book will be most rewarding to readers with knowledge of science at high-school & college levels, in particular readers that understand how equations/math are used in sciences to describe and predict the behavior of various systems/objects.

3-stars for the prose. Gleick's writing doesn't flow and is often hard to follow. I can't say it was enjoyable read, most of the time I felt that I had to "extract" what he is trying to say by rereading certain sections.

5-stars for the content, breadth, and depth. Gleick casts a wide net in describing how pieces of Chaos theory emerged from several scientific fields. He did a phenomenal job in researching the topic and immersing himself in technical details.

Several keywords to take away from this book are : Chaotic systems, Fractals and Self-Similar patterns, Butterfly effect, Nonlinear systems,Dynamic systems, Bifurcating systems, Attractor. One example of how fractals appear in landscapes: [...].
Chaos theory spawned several new subfields broadly can be labelled as Emergent Complexity.

24 people found this helpful25 people found this helpful

A confused book about chaos theory and the people who discovered it.

September 23, 2017

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Chaos: Making a New Science by James Gleick is the story of how chaos theory was popularized in different fields of study.
In Chaos, Gleick looks at how the science of chaos was developed. It's pretty interesting to follow how researchers in different fields somehow discovers how the theory is not as it seems. How simple systems are not just simple systems but can evolve into complex systems. And how these researchers through their curiosity and open-mindedness were able to see that perhaps there's a new paradigm and a new theory to be discovered.

Unfortunately I don't think this book is very well written. The purpose and point of the book is quite hard to see. Does Gleick want to tell us about chaos? In that case the explanations are few and far between and when an explanation of chaos is attempted, it doesn't quite adequately explain it. Perhaps this is more to tell the human side of chaos? How recognition might not always come but the pursuit of truth is more important. In this case I am unconvinced as the structure doesn't allow that to come across. The book seems to be more about individuals and looks to be split up into small autobiographies. Finishing this book, I'm not really sure what it was I was supposed to get out of it. The most interesting point for me was how Kuhn's theory of scientific revolutions was exemplified but other than this I don't feel like I got anything else out of the book.

This is then not a book about chaos theory. It's more a collection of stories of the people who helped bring about chaos theory and their struggles in doing so.

25 people found this helpful26 people found this helpful

Patrick Thibaut

Nice book if you like math but the history of math even more.

August 22, 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

This book was not bad and it tought me a thing or two, but I would have liked more math. It's 75% about 'the who's who on campus', I mean the history of scientists and their discoveries.

9 people found this helpful10 people found this helpful

Vladimir Zuzukin

Great read on the history of the emerging field of ...

October 13, 2014

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Great read on the history of the emerging field of chaos theory as a loose multi-disciplinary field applicable to almost every discipline and yet adopted by no discipline as its own. The pioneers are as varied, free-thinking, maverick, and ostracized as the discipline itself. Approach this book from the standpoint of 'history of chaos science' rather than 'technical introduction to chaos theory,' as the work doesn't quite take upon itself to teach the reader the rigorous field of chaos theory even at an introductory level. It is a book for the lover of science for science sake and a qualitative introduction to chaos at that.

9 people found this helpful10 people found this helpful

Amazon Customer

amazingly simple book

October 17, 2016

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

an amaizng book. even for a non-science person like me, it was a great read. glecik has made the language so simple that i found each and every page interesting and understandable. this rates as one of the best books i have ever read in my iife. i have understood now the fact that most of the life we have lead or are leading, has to have a component of chaos in it, and it is alright not to fret over it.

4 people found this helpful5 people found this helpful

Roberto Rigolin F Lopes

Mavericks creating a new branch of science

March 14, 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Even science converges in a chaotic way, nay? Well, here we have a bunch of mavericks creating a new branch of science; the struggle to ignite a paradigm shift is everywhere in this book. They saw regular irregularities in deterministic systems (locally unpredictable but globally stable) and built the intuition and mathematical tools to understand it. The adventure includes several paradoxes together with infinite food for thought. For example, a fractal plots infinity within a finite plan. What? We can see infinity!

2 people found this helpful3 people found this helpful

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