Chaos Bound

By N. Katherine Hayles

Book Overview

Hayles's point is that the almost simultaneous appearance of interest in complex systems across many disciplines -physics, mathematics, biology, information theory, literature, literary theory -signals a profound paradigm and epistemological shift. She calls the new paradigm 'orderly disorder.' This is a timely, informative, and enormously thought-provoking book. -- Nancy Craig Simmons - American Literature

N. Katherine Hayles here investigates parallels between contemporary literature and critical theory and the science of chaos. She finds in both scientific and literary discourse new interpretations of chaos, which is seen no longer as disorder but as a locus of maximum information and complexity. She examines structures and themes of disorder in The Education of Henry Adams, Doris Lessing's Golden Notebook, and works by Stanislaw Lem. Hayles shows how the writings of poststructuralist theorists including Barthes, Lyotard, Derrida, Serres, and de Man incorporate central features of chaos theory.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0801422620
• ISBN13: 9780801422621
• Release Date: March 1990
• Publisher: Cornell University Press
• Length: 330 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.0" x 9.0"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Stunning in its intelligence and breadth

For anyone interested in this topic, this book is a must read. Complex ideas are explained clearly, and Hayles is magnificent in her orchestration of difficult concepts. Both science and the arts are treated fairly.