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Everyday Chaos
The Mathematics of Unpredictability, from the Weather to the Stock Market
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Check link for latest rating. ( 43 ratings, 10 reviews)
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Format: Paperback / softback
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?
You might enjoy this intriguing book if you're fascinated by the unpredictability of the world and want to explore how science and complex systems shape everyday occurrences. It delves into the chaos theory and its applications, offering compelling insights into nature and human society that can change your perception of order and randomness in life.
"Trying to understand a system with multiple interacting components - the weather, for example, or the human body, or the stock market - means dealing with two factors: chaos and complexity. If we don't understand these two essential subjects, we can't understand the real world"--Back cover.
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Description
Chaos and complexity explained, with illuminating examples ranging from unpredictable pendulums to London's wobbly Millennium Bridge.
The math we are taught in school is precise and only deals with simple situations. Reality is far more complex. Trying to understand a system with multiple interacting components—the weather, for example, or the human body, or the stock market—means dealing with two factors: chaos and complexity. If we don't understand these two essential subjects, we can't understand the real world. In Everyday Chaos, Brian Clegg explains chaos and complexity for the general reader, with an accessible, engaging text and striking full-colour illustrations.
By chaos, Clegg means a system where complex interactions make predicting long-term outcomes nearly impossible; complexity means complex interacting systems that have new emergent properties that make them more than the sum of their parts. Clegg illustrates these phenomena with discussions of predictable randomness, the power of probability, and the behaviour of pendulums. He describes what Newton got wrong about gravity; how feedback kept steam engines from exploding; and why weather produces chaos.
He considers the stock market, politics, bestseller lists, big data, and London's wobbling Millennium Bridge as examples of chaotic systems, and he explains how a better understanding of chaos helps scientists predict more accurately the risk of catastrophic Earth-asteroid collisions. We learn that our brains are complex, self-organising systems; that the structure of snowflakes exemplifies emergence; and that life itself has been shown to be an emergent property of a complex system.
Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?
Everyday Chaos by Brian Clegg is praised for its engaging exploration of the complexities and unpredictability in science and nature, with readers noting the book's ability to reveal new insights continually.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9780262539692
Publisher: MIT Press Ltd
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 06 October 2020
Country: United States
Imprint: MIT Press
Illustration: 160
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 21.0mm
Width: 162.0mm
Height: 241.0mm
Weight: 615g
Pages: 256
About the Author
Brian Clegg is an award-winning popular science writer and the author of more than thirty books, including A Brief History of Infinity, Dice World, and Dark Matter and Dark Energy- The Hidden 95% of the Universe.
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