Reviews (4)

Exciting and Lucid Introduction to Chaos Theory
This book is a must-own for anyone interested in nonlinear dynamics and chaos -- I also highly recommend the "Nonlinear Dynamics and Chaos" text by Strogatz.
The definitive guide to dynamical systems!
When I purchased this book three years ago, I had only a rudimentary understanding of dynamical systems. Thankfully, all that was needed to get me started was some intermediate calculus and some basic college-level linear algebra. Since I had been doing both from the time I was a sophmore in high school, I had no trouble getting comfortable with it. The authors present dynamical systems in an easy-to-read style with tests that appear at the end of each chapter after you've had time to catch on. great introduction to dynamical systems
I was enrolled in a course at GMU in which the draft version of this text was used.The math was not as difficult as some of the graduate texts, therefore it serves as a good intoduction for someone with as little as 2 years of undergraduate math.The challenges at the end of each chapter are more difficult than the regular problems, but they are meant to be.Many of the systems can be modeled on a spreadsheet.If you have any interest in Chaos, this book will only strengthen it. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Chaos Theory (Mathematics)    2. Chaotic Behavior in Systems    3. Differentiable Dynamical Systems    4. Differentiable dynamical syste    5. Differential Equations    6. General    7. Mathematics    8. Science    9. Science/Mathematics    10. Chaos theory    11. Fractals    12. Mathematics / Mathematical Analysis   

Reviews (1)

I'm no genius, but I sure learned something from this book.
I purchased this book when I was offered a summer project in the Physical Chemistry department to conduct experiments with fractals to develop an algorithim for Maple. Well, this book is small, consise, yet not dry, which is a very hard optimization to achieve.I feel I got a lot from this book beyond the math, and gained a little insight to how structured chaos really is.I wish I had more time to devote to this theory, and I recommend this book to anyone that wants to learn about fractals, but doesn't want to have to invest 300 pages of reading to get the jist. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Chemistry - Physical & Theoretical    2. Chemistry, Physical and theoretical    3. Fractals    4. Mathematics    5. Science    6. Science/Mathematics    7. Quantum & theoretical chemistry   

Reviews (1)

Another work from the master of explaining mathematics
This book is another pillar holding up the banner that proclaims the author to be `the most ubiquitous man in the most ubiquitous of fields." He seems to have no mathematical weaknesses, attacking and explaining everytopic with charm, wit, grace and thoroughness. It there is such a thing asmathematical savoir-faire, Martin Gardner possesses it. Read more

Subjects:  1. Mathematical recreations    2. Mathematics    3. Recreations & Games    4. Science/Mathematics    5. Puzzles & quizzes   

Reviews (5)

The Essence of Beauty
I spent all last evening reading snippets of The Beauty of Fractals (those few paragraphs that a layman could understand) and admiring the sheer beauty of the diagrams/maps.I had not realised there was an aesthetic component to mathematics, and I certainly did not know that aspects of what is generally thought of as a dry science can be so visually appealing, not to say stunning. Time goes by... the pictures fade
Amazon dot com gives no credit for my earlier reviews.... I wrote the first review without thinking or spell checking, fast.There are still parts of this book I can't duplicate! And parts that are just written so bad no one can understand them, but most of it stands the test of time, like Mandelbrot's article. This will probably be a classic in the future! I think the free Fractint documentation is probably better for a beginner or Hans Lauwerier's " Fractals".

Swirly
Although one of the earliest titles to bring fractals into the mainstream, 'The Beauty of Fractals' isn't as visually exciting as the follow-up, 'Chaos and Fractals', and it's a very dry read - in 1986 complex dynamics were an esoteric field of mathematics that had yet to transfer to student posters and rave videos. At this price it's restricted to people who absolutely need it, although along with 'Godel, Escher, Bach' it's one of the seminal hackish coffee-table books. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Computers - Languages / Programming    2. Geometry - General    3. Logic    4. Programming Languages - General    5. Mathematics / Logic   

Reviews (3)

Good on self affine scaling
I'm not into surfaces and have only used a small part of this book for one purpose: for an introduction to self affine scaling. The topic is presented very systematically, with nice examples. Especially nice is the binomial model of multiaffine scaling. Multiaffine scaling is supposed to appear in "soft" fluid turbulence and is often mislabeled multifractal scaling, which is a horse of a different color altogether!

Fractal Concepts in Surface Growth
This is the first book I have so far encountered on interface growth to treat the subject in a simple, intuitive and entertaining manner. All the basic mathematical concepts are explained, the book is easy to read and contains plenty of illustrations and examples from real life. Barabasi and Stanley show how processes ranging from accumulation of snow on car windows, to bacterial colony growth on agar surfacees, are governed by similiar mathematical laws. Exercises are conceptual as well as mathematical, with many questions asking for discussion or further research. This book is essential for novices and experts alike.

gives science growth that generates a increase in human life
This book does not deseves critics in completelly perfect ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Crystal growth    2. Fractals    3. Interfaces (Physical sciences)    4. Molecular beam epitaxy    5. Physics    6. Science    7. Science/Mathematics    8. Solid State Physics    9. Surfaces (Physics)    10. Condensed matter physics (liquids & solids)    11. Science / Physics   

Subjects:  1. Advanced    2. Congresses    3. Dynamics    4. Mandelbrot sets    5. Mathematics    6. Science/Mathematics    7. System theory    8. Topology - Fractals    9. Analytic topology    10. Applied mathematics    11. Complex analysis   

Reviews (1)

Chaos and fractals unleashed
If the words fractals, chaos and dynamical systems are attractive fixed points for your mind, go ahead. This is a book about this stuff. The three authors really unleash those topics, using numerous intriguing examples.The mathematical level is elementary. There is a good treatment bothmathematical and heuristic of the discrete dynamical system generated bythe logistic equation, this icon of the chaos and fractals theory. At eachchapter's end there is a program written in old-fashioned Basic language,but the skeleton may be recycled in, say, Mathematica or Matlab. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Fractal Geometry    2. Fractals    3. General    4. Mathematics    5. Science/Mathematics    6. Topology - Fractals    7. Mathematics / General   

Subjects:  1. Advanced    2. Business/Economics    3. Chaos Theory (Mathematics)    4. Chaotic Behavior in Systems    5. Differentiable Dynamical Systems    6. Differentiable dynamical syste    7. Differential Equations    8. Mathematics    9. Science    10. Chaos theory    11. Fractals   

Reviews (2)

More theory than applications
Compared to the recently republished papers of Mandelbrot, i had hoped much more from this book. It merely summarizes the existing work on multifractals without providing much insight about why is multifractal theory interesting in practice. If you are interested in a very good mathematical treatment go to the homepage of Rudolf Riedi at Rice University and read his papers. For the original ideas about multifractals and a far more applied perspective go to Mandelbrot's books and also "Critical phenomena in natural sciences" by Sornette, you'll get a more balanced theory-practice mix than in the present book. The only merit of this book is to reference quite fairly the existing literature, but this should not be the sole aim of a book, so i think that with this one you'll waste your time.

fractals - multifractals - measures and probability
my addressRead more

Subjects:  1. Applied    2. Functional Analysis    3. Global Analysis    4. Mathematics    5. Multifractals    6. Probability & Statistics - General    7. Science/Mathematics    8. Topology - Fractals    9. Fluid mechanics    10. Mathematics / Probability & Statistics / Bayesian Analysis    11. Probability & statistics   

Reviews (2)

helpful, easy to understand, straightforward
This book provides an excellent framework for understanding chaotic systems, whether for the novice or the experienced fractal scientist. The diagrams in particular helped elucidate the concepts presented. Sciencemade simple without being dummed down - well done!

Nice introduction to Chaos and Fractals!
This is a nice little book whose target audience is high school students, beginning undergraduates, and science teachers. Using many examples , Devaney leads the reader through ideas of iteration and dynamical system. The latter half of the book deals with the connection between chaos and the science of fractals. The readers are encouraged to explore the various facets of chaos and fractals using simple computer programs (many sample source codes are peppered throughout the book). In addition to the book, there is a couple of companion video tapes that are also highly instructive and serve as good introduction to chaos and fractals. The first video, Chaos, Fractals and Dynamics, bears the same name as the book and brings to life many of the examples mentioned in the book in a manner that is not possible via the static book format. The visual highlight occurs when Devaney shows beautiful animations of the Julia set. If this doesn't get the students excited, I don't know what will! The second video, Transition to Chaos, describes the period-doubling approach to chaos using the now standard quadratic map. There is a nice discussion about the relationship between the period-doubling bifurcation and the Mandelbrot and Julia sets. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Science/Mathematics   

Reviews (2)

Scientific applications focus
A good combination of the theory of fractals along with its application in several diverse fields, like percolation clusters. Vicsek covers the familiar geometric objects like Julia sets and Sierpinski gaskets. The book is not focused on the fancy computer graphics applications. Instead, it looks at scientific phenomena like a hierarchical network of resistors and how a distribution of voltage drops shows multifractal scaling.
Fractals in natural sciences
Written by an author from a scientific background, this survey of the field of fractal growth starts with its appearance in carbon black deposits, and then backtracks to explain the mathematics and concepts behind fractal growth.It then goes forward again to discuss fractal growth in other naturally occuring systems. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Fractals    2. Mathematical Physics    3. Science/Mathematics   

Reviews (1)

Make interesting geometric pop-ups
This is a wonderful book that will help older children & adults alike make interesting geometric pop-ups. Though the designs are complex & take some patience, they are definitely worth the effort.Read more

Subjects:  1. Children's Books/Ages 9-12 Nonfiction    2. Mathematics - Geometry    3. Science/Mathematics    4. Geometry    5. Pop-up & lift-the-flap books   

Subjects:  1. Fractal Geometry    2. Fractals    3. Mathematical physics    4. Mechanics - Dynamics - General    5. Science    6. Science/Mathematics    7. Surface Physics    8. Analytic topology   

Features

• Illustrated

Subjects:  1. Education    2. General    3. Mathematics - General    4. Chaos theory & fractals    5. Juvenile Nonfiction / Mathematics / General    6. MATHEMATICS    7. MATHEMATICS_JUVENILE LITERATURE    8. Physics   

Subjects:  1. Administration    2. Applied    3. Life Sciences - Biology - General    4. Science    5. Cellular biology    6. Fractals    7. Human biology    8. Pre-Clinical Medicine: Basic Sciences    9. Science / Biology   

Reviews (1)

Good overview of subject, lots of references
Easy to understand analysis of river systems.This is a good text for a graduate-level course.It is also a valuable reference for any geologist or hydrologist involved in work that deals with modern or ancient fluvial systems.CJD ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Earth Sciences - Geology    2. Earth Sciences - Hydrology    3. Hydrology    4. Quantitative Geology    5. Science    6. Science/Mathematics    7. Hydrology (freshwater)    8. Rivers - Mathematical models    9. Science / Geology   

Subjects:  1. Animals    2. Biological systems    3. Chaos Theory (Mathematics)    4. Chaotic behavior in systems    5. Fractals    6. General    7. Mammals    8. Mathematical models    9. Physiology    10. Physiology (Specific Aspects)    11. Science    12. Science/Mathematics    13. Medical / Physiology    14. Medicine | Physiology   

Subjects:  1. Earth Sciences - Geology    2. Fractals    3. Geology    4. Geophysics    5. Mathematical Physics    6. Mathematics    7. Science    8. Science/Mathematics    9. Earth System    10. Heterogeneity    11. Scaling    12. Science / Geophysics   

Subjects:  1. Differential Topology    2. General    3. Mandelbrot sets    4. Mathematics    5. Probability & Statistics - General    6. Science/Mathematics    7. Topology - Fractals    8. Topology - General    9. Analytic topology    10. Mathematics / Differential Equations    11. Probability & statistics   

Subjects:  1. Calculus    2. Calculus Of Variations    3. Convergence    4. Differential Equations    5. Mathematical Analysis    6. Mathematics    7. Science/Mathematics    8. Chaos theory & fractals    9. Mathematics / Differential Equations    10. Mathematics / Mathematical Analysis    11. Mathematics-Calculus    12. Mathematics-Differential Equations