Does God Play Dice (Us Edition): The Mathematics of Chaos

By Ian Stewart

Book Overview

Does God Play Dice? Yes. But How? Einstein did not believe that 'God Plays Dice'. He laid the foundations for today's thinking that the universe is goverened by the immutable laws of physics- there is no room for chance. But these foundations may be built on sand. The new science of chaos is forcing scientists to rethink even the most fundamental ideas about the way in which the universe behaves. Chaos thoery has already shown that the systems obeying precise laws can nevertheless act in a random manner. Perhaps God does play dice, within a cosmic game of complete law and order. Does God Play Dice? explains the astonishing new theories of systems that obey simple laws but which are neither constant nor predictable. Ian Stewart reveals a strange universe. A universe in which nothing may be as it seems, where familiar geometrical shapes such as circles and ellipses give way to infinitely complex structures known as 'fractals'. He explains how the fluttering of a butterfly's wings can change the weather and how the gravitational attraction of a creature in a distant galaxy can change the fate of the solar system. In terms that anyone can understand Does God Play Dice? tells the story of this entirely new science and the implications chaos has for notions of predictability and the verification of scientific theories. Chaos is a whole new world of ideas and possibilities, a new kind of matementics, a fundamental insight into nature itself, and it brings us closer to an understanding of literally everything .

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1557861064
• ISBN13: 9781557861061
• Release Date: January 1991
• Publisher: Wiley & Sons, Incorporated, John
• Length: 360 Pages
• Weight: 1.09 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Stewart is a reliable guide to chaos

Although chaos was a hype some years ago, it still is relevant to many branches of the physical and mathematical sciences. For non-mathematicians, like myself, it is quite difficult to get some good, solid, reliable information about what chaos theory is all about. Ian Stewart is that source of reliable information, and if you want to know what chaos is about, read this book first. Stewart's approach is down-to-earth, leaving all the mystical ideas about the interconnectedness of the universe, behind. However, that does not mean that his writing is dull in any way. On the contrary, one can feel Stewart's enthousiasm for the mathematical weirdness of chaotic systems on every page. And the informal language and many puns make it a delight to read this book. Stewart describes how chaotic behavior was discovered in the late 1800s but was forgotten for nearly a century. He describes how mathematical chaos relates to chaotic features of the empirical world such as the butterfly effect (quite a difficult subject, but Stewart does a magnificant job here). And he points to some of the ramification of chaos for our thinking about the universe (determinism and all that stuff). All in all - a book that will make you think about the world in a different way.

Good tasting without indigestion

(1st edition '89) Stewart's book gives the reader as strong a flavor for the constructs of chaos as possible without formulas everywhere. The author makes great use of figures to depict ideas and even gives readers home-projects to test for themselves. Further reading is given (with difficulty levels indicated) for the brave-hearted. Unfortunately, the book is lacking as a reference due to it's vague table of contents and sparse index. But as compared to Mark Ward's "Beyond Chaos", Stewart gives the reader a deeper understanding of the subject matter. Overall good read.

The best chaos for layman

This mesmerizing historical overview of nonlinear science, full of seedy ideas and fascinating expositions (from heartbeat to weather forecast) is well worth reading. One of those "aha !" books that will broaden your understanding of the universe (and the rest), it is very "visual" and..well, a friend of mine said she considered it a "mental thriller" since it touches on the great old questions of determinism and predictability. As for "mathematics" in the title- don't be put off. The book is virtually mathless.

Mind-Blowing Maths for kids!

Not being particularly mathematically minded, I found some sections of this book a bit of a struggle. Nonetheless, Stewart's somewhat disarming, slightly off-the-wall style of writing is very engaging, and on the whole the book is very readable. The implications of chaos will become clearer in the next decade or so I should imagine, so this book is timely and topical. A definite "must read".

There is pattern within Gods Dice Games!

God doesn't play Dice, he plays with Our Conception ofReallity and Ian Stewart offers here a clear and very accesible workfrom Poincare's insights to our modern knowledge about turbulence in fluid dynamics. Step by step you get deeper envolved in the Dice Games of God and Realize that the analisis of those Dynamics is giving a new insight in those Dice Games revealing Pattern, Structure and Order within apparent " Chaotic Disorder". How much are we still going to learn beyond Chaotic Dynamics? The answer is offered by Ian Stewart. Chaos Theory is only a step more to get closer using these analitycal tools as Patterns of Recognition within all specialities and fields. We will encounter new Dice Games to discover, after that Games are not Games but intrincate Pattern and Subtle Structure only revealed when we know what to look for. But for that we need to change Our Insights, a thing we don't like to do easily but when done so, Reveals the Rich Order, Law and Structure that surrounds Us. We only need to make the right questions. An uneasy task, but a Revarding one. END