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Unlike the phenomena dealt with in relativity theory and quantum mechanics, systems that are now described as "chaotic" can be observed without telescopes or microscopes. They range from the simplest happenings, such as the falling of a leaf, to the most complex processes, like the fluctuations of climate. Each process that qualifies, however, has certain quantifiable characteristics: how it unfolds depends very sensitively upon its present state, so that, even though it is not random, it seems to be. Lorenz uses examples from everyday life, and simple calculations, to show how the essential nature of chaotic systems can be understood. In order to expedite this task, he has constructed a mathematical model of a board sliding down a ski slope as his primary illustrative example. With this model as his base, he explains various chaotic phenomena, including some associated concepts such as strange attractors and bifurcations.
As a meteorologist, Lorenz initially became interested in the field of chaos because of its implications for weather forecasting. In a chapter ranging through the history of weather prediction and meteorology to a brief picture of our current understanding of climate, he introduces many of the researchers who conceived the experiments and theories, and he describes his own initial encounter with chaos.
A further discussion invites readers to make their own chaos. Still others debate the nature of randomness and its relationship to chaotic systems, and describe three related fields of scientific thought: nonlinearity, complexity, and fractality. Appendixes present the first publication of Lorenz's seminal paper "Does the Flap of a Butterfly's Wing in Brazil Set Off a Tornado in Texas?"; the mathematical equations from which the copious illustrations were derived; and a glossary.
Preface; 1. Glimpses of Chaos 2. It Only Looks Random 3. Pinballs and Butterflies 4. It Ain't Got Rhythm 5. Zeroing in on Chaos 6. A Journey Into Chaos 7. Chaos in Action 8. The Heart of Chaos 9. Chaos of Another Species 10. In and Out of Chaos 11.Our Chaotic Weather 12. Prediction: A Tale of Two Fluids 13. Meteorology: Two Tales of One Fluid 14. The Unperformable Experiment 15. Voices from Dishpans 16. The Five-Million Variable Dynamic System 17. The Consequences 18. Encounters With Chaos: Prologue 19. Recognition 20. In Limbo 21. Searching 22. The Strange Attractor 23. The Ubiquity of Chaos 24. Make Your Own Chaos 25. Is Randomness Chaos? 26. What Else is Chaos? 27. Nonlinearity 28. Complexity 29. Fractality 30. Appendices: The Butterfly Effect; Mathematical Excursions; A Brief Dynamical Systems Glossary; Bibliography; Index
Overview
Chaos surrounds us. Seemingly random events -- the flapping of a flag, a storm-driven wave striking the shore, a pinball's path -- often appear to have no order, no rational pattern. Explicating the theory of chaos and the consequences of its principal findings -- that actual, precise rules may govern such apparently random behavior -- has been a major part of the work of Edward N. Lorenz. In The Essence of Chaos, Lorenz presents to the general reader the features of this "new science," with its far-reaching ...