Product Description
Mathematical symmetry and chaos come together to form striking, beautiful color images throughout this impressive work, which addresses how the dynamics of complexity can produce familiar universal patterns.

The book, a richly illustrated blend of mathematics and art, was widely hailed in publications as diverse as the New York Review of Books, Scientific American, and Science when first published in 1992. This much-anticipated second edition features many new illustrations and addresses the progress made in the mathematics and science underlying symmetric chaos in recent years; for example, the classifications of attractor symmetries and methods for determining the symmetries of higher dimensional analogues of images in the book. In particular, the concept of patterns on average and their occurrence in the Faraday fluid dynamics experiment is described in a revised introductory chapter.

The ideas addressed in Symmetry in Chaos have been featured at various conferences on intersections between art and mathematics, including the annual Bridges conference, and in lectures to art students at the University of Houston.

Symmetry in Chaos features 100+ illustrations, including 54 computer-generated color images. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Fresh approach!
How is this book different from all the other fractal/chaos books on the market? Because of the emphasis on symmetry! Most fractal/chaos books are similar in the sense that they contain the same pictures. But even if you are fed up with Mandelbrot sets, you can safely open this book. You will love the fractal wallpapers.

The book is written by mathematicians, too, so it's factually correct, and has some real insight.

Just read it!

Symmetry: a powerful concept
This looks like another book of cool fractal pictures, but it's much morethan that.The concept of symmetry is subtle and useful in the hardsciences as well as in literature and philosophy.This book provides asolid mathematical treatment of it, with excellent graphical examples. This book is great fun for math nerds, but can also entertain a moregeneral audience that has some interest in fractals or in visualizingmathematical concepts.

A visually delightful book!
Not only is this book filled with eye-catching colorful pictures, it also does a wonderful job of explaining how they were generated. They also draw many interesting parallels between the computer-generated pictures and the structures that occur in nature or are man-made. Check out their Symmetric Chaos site at http://math.uh.edu/~chaos/Welcome.html! ... Read more

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"A realm lies there of forms to explore and harmonies to discover." —David Ruelle, codiscoverer of strange attractors

Strange attractors are hidden islands of stability, subtle patterns of order at the heart of chaos. They are among the handful of breakthrough discoveries that gave rise to what has been called the third great scientific revolution of the twentieth century, chaos theory. Offering a revolutionary new rubric for understanding the natural world, chaos theory arms scientists with a set of powerful tools for studying complex systems in fields as diverse as particle physics, evolutionary biology, and meteorology. Now, behavioral scientists have discovered that chaos theory—which the APA Monitor identified as "an important new paradigm in psychology"—also has profound implications for deciphering human behavior.

Written by three leaders in the field, Strange Attractors explains how the principles of chaos theory can help mental health professionals arrive at a more profound understanding of the dynamics of one of the most complicated nonlinear systems—the family. Both a general introduction to chaos theory and a guide to its clinical applications, Strange Attractors details various chaos-based approaches to the assessment and treatment of families.

Central to all of the approaches outlined in this book is the concept of families as organic systems with boundaries and patterns that grow and change in complicated ways. Unlike a machine, which is a closed system, a family is open-ended, and its survival depends upon its ability to weather periods of extreme turbulence and chaos en route to calmer oases. The job of the family therapist is to identify the strange attractors that promote transformation. Using vivid vignettes and rich metaphors, Strange Attractors demonstrates how readers can apply the science of chaos theory to the art of engendering family change.

Acclaim for Strange Attractors

"Family interaction is one of the most important areas of the application of the dynamics of change. This book does an outstanding job of demystifying a complex science and blending the technical and the metaphoric." —

Anyone who has ever sat through a family holiday dinner knows how multilayered and entangled interactions between relatives can be. Like a collision of billiard balls, the rhythms of day-to-day family interplay are intricate and often appear unpredictable—and the dance of families in crisis is even more complex. Yet, while certain family phenomena may appear to be random, they are actually part of a larger coherent process. This groundbreaking book sheds light on how chaos theory can be used to decipher and promote change in complicated family dynamics. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A new model for family therapy
There have been many, perhaps far too many, books which try to use chaos & complexity theory as a model for therapy. Most such books have only the most limited understanding of either chaos/complexity theory ortherapy. This book stands out because the authors are both workingtherapists and experts in non-linear dynamics. And perhaps mostimportantly, they know how to write in a way that is useful to therapists,as well as to anyone who wants to think deeply about how human beings growand change. ... Read more

Product Description
Finally, a book that not only explains the relationship between investing and chaos theory--the cutting-edge dicipline that Business Week says will "revitalize the money-management industry"--but also shows readers how to use the theory to master the financial markets. Illustrated. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Profiting from Chaos--2003 Nobel Prize in Economics Winners
The topic of this book: Using Chaos Theory for Market Timing, Stock Selection and Option Valuation--corresponds to that area of Economics reflected in the current Nobel Prize in Economics Winners for 2003!This book by Tonis Vaga, "Profiting from Chaos: Using Chaos Theory for Market Timing, Stock Selection, and Option Valuation", Dec., 1994; ISBN 0-07-066786-1 is about 9 years ahead of its time.The original definition of chaos emphasized the apparent unpredictable behavior arising in a dynamic deterministic system because of great sensitivity to initial conditions. If two arbitrarily close starting points diverge exponentially so that their future behavior becomes unpredictable then chaos has arisen!This is characteristic of weather, stock markets, and commodity markets.However, short term and middle term weather forecasting is performed regularly before the long term effects of chaos sets in.This is the same type of strategy used in this book for Market Timing, Stock Selection, and Option Valuation by use of Chaos Theory.There is an underlying regularity in a function that exhibits chaos which can be revealed by systematic perturbations to the trajectory.Just like weather forecasting can be successful by redefining the short and medium term (i.e., defacto systematic perturbations) then "Profiting from Chaos" in the short and medium term is also possible.The Nobel Committee in Oslo, Norway has just confirmed the underlying thesis of Tonis Varga's book by this year's Nobel Prize in Economics award! I suspect that a revised edition will now be in the works, but get the original version before it is too late!

Interesting
The coherent market hypothesis (CMH) presented in this book is an interesting alternative to the commonly used efficient market hypothesis. However, nonlinear dynamical systems have had less impact on economics thanon other sciences. For good reasons. In economics there is rarely atheoretical reason for expecting to find one form of nonlinearity ratherthan another. As a result, the concepts presented in this book are quiteinteresting, but none of them is particularly convincing. In addition, thecomplex mathematics are not clearly explained. Empirical verification ofthe CMH is therefore extremely difficult, if not impossible. The practicalvalue of this book is rather limited and does not provide enough reasons toabandon the assumptions of the efficient market hypothesis as a basis forday-to-day trading decisions. ... Read more

Product Description
This study applies the findings of the new nonlinear sciences to understanding the processes of growing complexity and intensifying chaos in the modern world. It also identifies and reviews approaches for living and coping with these trends. Uri Merry seeks to clarify the role of chaos in the transformation of the social sciences to new orders by re-examining and re-evaluating some of the basic tenets of modern social and behavioral science in light of theories of chaos, self-organization, and complexity. Divided into three sections, the work provides an overview of the major findings of the new science of chaos; analyzes why chaos is on the upsurge and why human society is experiencing such anxiety about it; and surveys some of the major approaches for dealing with chaos in society, organizations, and our personal lives. ... Read more

Product Description
Beautiful Chaos is the first book to examine contemporary American fiction through the lens of chaos theory. The book focuses on recent works of fiction by John Barth, Michael Crichton, Don DeLillo, Michael Dorris, Cormac McCarthy, Toni Morrison, Thomas Pynchon, Carol Shields, and Robert Stone, all of whom incorporate aspects of chaos theory in one or more of their novels. They accomplish this through their disruption of conventional linear narrative forms and their use of strategic tropes of chaos and order, but also--and more significantly for an understanding of the interaction of science and fiction--through their self-conscious embrace of the current rhetoric of chaos theory.

Since the publication of James Gleick's Chaos: Making a New Science in 1987, chaos theory has been taken up by a wide variety of literary critics and other scholars of the arts. While considering the relationship between chaos theory and recent American fiction, Beautiful Chaos details basic assumptions about orderly and dynamic systems and the various manifestations of chaos theory in literature, including mimesis, metaphor, model, and metachaotics. It also explains particular features of orderly and dynamic systems, including entropy, bifurcation and turbulence, noise and information, scaling and fractals, iteration, and strange attractors. ... Read more

Product Description
The dynamics of realistic Hamiltonian systems has unusual microscopic features that are direct consequences of its fractional space-time structure and its phase space topology. The book deals with the fractality of the chaotic dynamics and kinetics, and also includes material on non-ergodic and non-well-mixing Hamiltonian dynamics. The book does not follow the traditional scheme of most of today's literature on chaos. The intention of the author has been to put together some of the most complex and yet open problems on the general theory of chaotic systems. The importance of the discussed issues and an understanding of their origin should inspire students and researchers to touch upon some of the deepest aspects of nonlinear dynamics.

The book considers the basic principles of the Hamiltonian theory of chaos and some applications including for example, the cooling of particles and signals, control and erasing of chaos, polynomial complexity, Maxwell's Demon, and others. It presents a new and realistic image of the origin of dynamical chaos and randomness. An understanding of the origin of randomness in dynamical systems, which cannot be of the same origin as chaos, provides new insights in the diverse fields of physics, biology, chemistry, and engineering. ... Read more

Product Description

Controlling Chaos offers its reader an extensive selection of techniques to achieve three goals: the suppression, synchronisation and generation of chaos, each of which is the focus of a separate part of the book. The text deals with the well-known Lorenz, Rössler and Hénon attractors and the Chua circuit, and with less celebrated novel systems. Modelling of chaos is accomplished using difference equations and ordinary and time-delayed differential equations. The methods directed at controlling chaos benefit from the influence of advanced nonlinear control theory: inverse optimal control is used for stabilization; exact linearization for synchronization; and impulsive control for chaotification. Notably, a fusion of chaos and fuzzy systems theories is employed, with the Takagi–Sugeno model and the authors’ own fuzzy hyperbolic model utilized in the modelling and control of chaotic systems. Time-delayed systems are also studied with many synchronisation methods being explored. All the results presented are general for a broad class of chaotic systems.

This monograph is self-contained with introductory material providing a review of the history of chaos control and the necessary mathematical preliminaries for working with dynamical systems.

Controlling Chaos will be of interest to academics from electrical, systems, mechanical and chemical engineering backgrounds working in control theory related to nonlinear dynamical and chaotic systems and to graduate students of chaos control.

Product Description

Why did the stock market crash more than 500 points on a single Monday in 1987? Why do ancient species often remain stable in the fossil record for millions of years and then suddenly disappear? In a world where nice guys often finish last, why do humans value trust and cooperation? At first glance these questions don't appear to have anything in common, but in fact every one of these statements refers to a complex system. The science of complexity studies how single elements, such as a species or a stock, spontaneously organize into complicated structures like ecosystems and economies; stars become galaxies, and snowflakes avalanches almost as if these systems were obeying a hidden yearning for order.

Drawing from diverse fields, scientific luminaries such as Nobel Laureates Murray Gell-Mann and Kenneth Arrow are studying complexity at a think tank called The Santa Fe Institute. The revolutionary new discoveries researchers have made there could change the face of every science from biology to cosmology to economics. M. Mitchell Waldrop's groundbreaking bestseller takes readers into the hearts and minds of these scientists to tell the story behind this scientific revolution as it unfolds. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (72)

Complexity: A Guided Tour
With little precedence, complexity theory had been in the periphery of my imagination for some time.After much research I selected Melanie Miller's book as my guide into the study of this subject.From the beginning of Complexity: A Guided Tour I was enraptured by the manner of her writing and approach to her subject.Even though I lacked a substantive background in computer science and mathematics, I was enthralled and captivated by her account of the previous histories of Von Neumann, Alan Turning and all the countless innovators of technology, genetics and mathematics.Her work helped me to understand the intangibles which had previously escaped my intellectual grasp.I am indebted to Melanie Miller for her lucidity and intelligent account of innovation and provocative thought of the past several decades.

An introduction to complexity theory and the Santa Fe group
Although I am personally not a fan of the author's screenplay/journalistic writing style (the focus of the book is not complexity theory, but the lives of a few scientists in the context of the Santa Fe research group), this book introduced me to the very interesting studies of the Santa Fe institute and their focus on the science of complexity.I particularly valued the easily digestible introduction to the economic theory of increasing returns.

Stefania Lucchetti
Author of "The Principle of Relevance" The Principle of Relevance

Disappointing

I don't believe many people are too much interested in finding out how scientists work with other people by reading several hundred pages. Maybe a chapter or two will suffice for that purpose. People who buy this kind of non-professional book on science and engineering want far more than that - they want to understand the underlying ideas and the significance of the ideas, written in accessible English.

Simply, this book spent too much space on explaining how scientists worked, and not much on WHAT they found out. Disappointing, and purchase of this book made me believe that reviews and ratings on Amazon may not be trustworthy.

A little comment
i didn't read any page yet, but i'm very dissapointed with the paper quality of the paperback edition... pages are a little better than a newspaper ones... salud!

A superb account of the emergence of the science of Emergent Complexity.
This is a brilliant and riveting account of the birth of the science of Complexity at the Santa Fe Institute told in the form of detailed and human biographical profiles of some the leading scientific voices in the movement.Some reviewers here have complained that this isn't a book of science, per se, but more of history.While you will not find the math, code, detailed analysis of various models, or even illustrations of some of the compelling graphics; you will find well wrought descriptions of the basic theories and the evolution of thinking that delivered them.Getting the social and broader scientific context for the founders is a great introduction.Then you can read their books to get the nitty gritty, and you'll appreciate it better for having gained the long range perspective from Waldrop.

Complexity and emergence are some of the most compelling ideas to come out of the science of chaos - and are real paradigm changing ideas that promise to transform science in the 21st century and beyond.Complexity is the study of how agglomerations of agents behaving individually come to manifest dramatically complex group behaviors (called "emergent phenomena") with a richness you could never derive from the study of the simple components.Commonly studied emergent behaviors include the stock market, economies, flocks of birds and fish, the rise of life from pre-biotic molecular soup, the properties of complex molecules compared to the properties of their component atoms, etc...Methods of study are frequently computer simulations that model emergent complexity using simple rules in a recursive way reminiscent of chaos theory research. Indeed, Langton shows that emergent complexity is along the same continuum as chaos, but pitched at the edge between chaos and static order - literally the "edge of chaos".Some of the same scientists feature in both theories too - particularly Doyne Farmer of UCAL Santa Cruz.

The fact that informational order appears spontaneously seems to violate the 2nd law of thermodynamics - but does not because only information is being created, not energy.Kauffman calls it "order for free".This emergent order is deeply significant in a number of ways.First of all it provides a way of studying the structures of reality that are too messy and dynamic to fit classical reductionist science.But, more importantly, the reality of emergent complexity says something deeper about a creative generative force in the universe which resonates deeply with human spiritual feelings.Seeing order emerge spontaneously feels like witnessing "creation".In the latter chapters we see that evolution moves complex systems closer towards the edge of chaos (lambda around 1/4).Not only does this give a mathematical model for "evolutionary fitness" (which previously had been only definable as a tautology: evolutionary fitness = higher rates of survival (i.e. fitness)) but this also suggests a deeper concordance between a particular degree of chaos and some powerful natural property of phase transition that somehow engenders all the amazing dynamical systems we marvel at - particularly life itself on all its levels, from the swirling metabolic action of cells to the cellular group behavior of complex organisms such as ourselves, and our higher level social behavior.It's not an accident of evolution - it's an important, universal and inevitable law of nature, like gravity or electromagnetism.

Waldrop gets this and he takes you into Langton's computer lab the night he has his epiphany while playing the game of "Life" and other critical moments of inspiration.While this book doesn't spur you to take out your calculator and do the math like Gleik's "Chaos" it makes you feel the magic and gives you a heck of reading list to pursue further. ... Read more

Product Description
This book introduces readers to the full range of current and background activity in the rapidly growing field of nonlinear dynamics. It uses a step-by-step introduction to dynamics and geometry in state space to help in understanding nonlinear dynamics and includes a thorough treatment of both differential equation models and iterated map models as well as a derivation of the famous Feigenbaum numbers. It is the only introductory book available that includes the important field of pattern formation and a survey of the controversial questions of quantum chaos. This second edition has been restructured for easier use and the extensive annotated references are updated through January 2000 and include many web sites for a number of the major nonlinear dynamics research centers. With over 200 figures and diagrams, analytic and computer exercises this book is a necessity for both the classroom and the lab. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Excellent
The book was in perfect conditions, almost completly new and arrived in a very short time. Excellent.

A very good survey of chaos dynamics
This book is a good introduction with a complete list of references and allows to go more in depth for those interested .
The mathematics are easy and the development clear .
I didn't give 5 stars because while I found the presentation of temporal chaos almost perfect , the spatio-temporal chaos (notably the turbulence) and ergodicity would deserve a better but especially much longer treatment .
I would have balanced the content more in the direction - quantum chaos 3 pages , spatio-temporal chaos 3 chapters .

A good book for introduction
I have recently bought this book. I have been studying on evolution of the test particles in a particular planewave spacetimes, and I have realized that the system admits a non-integrable structure. I should investigate whether the particle motion emerges chaos or not. But, my knowledge on chaos was almost zero, before buying this book. Now, I am going to complete the full analysis of the book, and I am much more familiar to the concept of chaos. However, this book can be used for just begining. To proceed to the advanced problems you should look for other materials, especially to the articles about chaos. I advise this book as a first book to start chaos.
Dr. Izzet Sakalli

An excellent introduction
Covers the basics in an in-depth manner, and exposes the reader to a wide range of exciting problems in dynamical systems theory. THE book to start with if one is interested in chaos.

A excellent introduction to chaos
This is an accessible and readable introductory textbook on chaos and nonlinear dynamics. It focuses on the ideas behind the theory of chaos, rather than on the details of the mathematics which can sometimes hinder rather than help the reader gain real insight into the mechanisms of nonlinear systems.

By this I do not mean that the author skips over the required mathematics. The text is intended for people with a solid background in differential equations, and some familiarity with classical dynamical systems is also helpful if not completely necessary. I would say it is targeted for advanced undergraduate or beginning graduate students in the mathematical sciences, as well as scientists/engineers with no background in chaos theory. However he does not get bogged down in mathematics at the expense of physical insight. I have been studying the book on my own and have run into few problems in understanding the explanations.

The first chapter goes over 3 chaotic systems as a practical way of introducing the reader to various features of such systems. This provides a basis of practical experience to draw upon for the rest of the book, where the principles of chaos are examined in greater detail. The extensive references given in the book are a valuable addition that can be used to further explore the scientific literature. The references include journal papers as well as books, articles, and software for dynamical systems.

If you have the requisite mathematical background and want to learn the basics of chaos and nonlinear dynamics, I highly recommend this book. ... Read more

Product Description
Chaos Theory in the Social Sciences: Foundations and Applications offers the most recent thinking in applying the chaos paradigm to the social sciences. The book explores the methodological techniques--and their difficulties--for determining whether chaotic processes may in fact exist in a particular instance and examines implications of chaos theory when applied specifically to political science, economics, and sociology. The contributors to the book show that no single technique can be used to diagnose and describe all chaotic processes and identify the strengths and limitations of a variety of approaches.
The essays in this volume consider the application of chaos theory to such diverse phenomena as public opinion, the behavior of states in the international arena, the development of rational economic expectations, and long waves.
Contributors include Brian J. L. Berry, Thad Brown, Kenyon B. DeGreene, Dimitrios Dendrinos, Euel Elliott, David Harvey, L. Ted Jaditz, Douglas Kiel, Heja Kim, Michael McBurnett, Michael Reed, Diana Richards, J. Barkley Rosser, Jr., and Alvin M. Saperstein.
L. Douglas Kiel and Euel W. Elliott are both Associate Professors of Government, Politics, and Political Economy, University of Texas at Dallas.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Chaos theory and social dynamincs analysis
I recently purchased CHAOS THEORY IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES - Foundations and Applications, edited by L. Douglas Kiel and Euel Elliot, from Amazon. I purchased the book out of a strong need to find away to model the complexities in social dynamics in Southeast Asia, whichcombine very modern social forces of change - democracy, global economic impact on daily lives,& cantagious diseases such as HIV-AIDS, which require the use of Western analytical-clinical explanation with a foundation of very traditional local social systems and language.

Adopted explanations begin with borrowed terminologies (eg. HIV-AIDS) while attempts to explain its dangers and contagious characteristics must be couched in local cultural experience and language. Local concepts and words have local history,hence an established universe of discourse, hence the subject of HIV-AIDS must either generate its own semantic parameters, or face a run-away plethora of nuances and cliches. The result will be the incapability for a specific epidemiological acuity to emerge in the vernacular for HIV-AIDS. This is a vexing problem.

Chaos theory offers promise, more so than other mathematical tools previously used in social systems research; but is chaos theory ready?

Generally, the onset of using a new mathematical approach involves two extremes: those well-versed in the understanding of math and are open to applications, as against those who struggle with the complexities of empirical data, and find that existing models are inadequate, and now look towards chaos theory.

The above-mentioned work is an early attempt to bridge this gap, but weighted more in favor of chaos theory's potential, and less against the explication of the complexities of empirical data and the precise sense in which this complexitiy is inadequately represented by existing models.

This volume is encouraging more for the next step that it could lead to, where the requirements to explain data complexity are presented in a systematic fashion for chaos theory to determine its fit, together with discussion of what it can potentially offer to extend current models and explanations.

I will myself be addressing this target in the months ahead.
La Raw Maran PhD

A Mathophope Review
I managed to read most of this book. To be honest, I had to skip the calculus portions because they were way, way over my head. However, the introductions, summaries, and conclusions of many of the article, especially the first and last two articles were enlightening to me. I will use this information in my continued studies of public administration and policy implementation.

A must for individuals interested in Chaos in social science
The title of this text is a little misleading in that the book deals with chaos in social science, political science, and economics as well as social systems. Within these four categories, there are a total of thirteenauthors covering many fascinating fields.     The first chapter, written bythe editors, is a great introduction for individuals uncomfortable withchaos theory, especially as it applies in the social sciences.  An areathat was also intriguing was the explanation of Long Wave Theory as itapplies to economics, written by Brian J. L. Berry and Heja Kim.  Long WaveTheory is typically the ground for Kenyon De Greene.  He appears, however,in this text, discussing "Field-Theoretic Framework for theInterpretation of the Evolution, Instability, Structural Change, andManagement of Complex Systems."      This is a heavily quoted book andis a must for researchers in the application of chaos theory in humansystems. ... Read more

Product Description

Until recently, such phenomena as the volatility of weather systems, the fluctuation of the shock market, or the random firing of neurons in the brain were considered too "noisy" and complex to be probed by science. But now, with the aid of high-speed computers, scientists have been able to penetrate a reality that is changing the way we perceive the universe. Their findings -- the basis for chaos theory -- represent one of the most exciting scientific pursuits of our time.

No better introduction to this find could be found than John Briggs and F. David Peat's Turbulent Mirror. Together, they explore the many faces of chaos and reveal how its law direct most of the processes of everyday life and how it appears that everything in the universe is interconnected -- discovering an "emerging science of wholeness."

Turbulent Mirror introduces us to the scientists involved in study this endlessly strange field; to the theories that are turning our perception of the world on its head; and to the discoveries in mathematics, biology, and physics that are heralding a revolution more profound than the one responsible for producing the atomic bomb. With practical applications ranging from the control of traffic flow and the development of artifical intelligence to the treatment of heart attacks and schizophrenia, chaos promises to be an increasingly rewarding area of inquiry -- of interest to everyone.

Customer Reviews (9)

fantastic primer
This book opened my eyes to the wonder of fractals and chaos. I cannot recommend this book highly enough!

Explaining the unexplainable
The new science of Chaos has revolutionized not only science, but how all disciplines think. Chaos is the closest science has come to becoming a religion.
This is more of a text book, than a fun read, but it takes a very complicated subject and helps break it down into something digestible for the layman. Don't think you will know all about Chaos and it might take some rereading in some chapters, but overall good reading. The illustrations are marvelous as well.

A readable description of the theory of order out of chaos.
Here is an easy to read exposition of the theory of order out of chaos and how the natural world arises from basic natural processes repeated over and over again.The relevance of fractals to this study is given as well as a description of psychic processes.A must read for anyone interested in the new science.All the more complex theories of interest to the magical endeavor are based on the ideas presented in this book.It's an excellent companion to James Gleick's "Chaos."

A Book Ahead of its Time - still
A wonderful synthesis of science at the edge. A grasp of how scientific methodology is changing to accommodate the revelations of chaos theory. The used edition I read was from 1990 and is prescient even now (alas). The informed and illuminating evidence that revolutionizes the current Neo-Darwinistic paradigm of molecular evolutionary theory towards the end of the book was particularly refreshing. John Briggs and F. Peat's thinking is so strikingly lucid, informed, and visionary that this book will fail to make almost any lecture list where it is most needed for years to come.

A step deeper guild of Chaos Theory to layman
I've finished this book's Chinese version today. In the last year, I'm trying my best effort to absorb knowledge of Chaos Theory, Complexity, and Catastrophe Theory. It's quite hard to get a in-depth guild of the above knowledge to common people in Hong Kong.

My purpose to get the above knowledge is just in order to find the hidden order of financial market, and, of course, to make profit from the market. That's why I find this book is good to serve my purpose. It explained clearly on fractals, the relationship between chaos and order, and non-linearness.

I knew E. Peters has using fratals / Elloit Wave Theory to analyze financial market. Of course, it needs more intra-day data to try to find such fratals in a small scale period, e.g. in a 5-minute charts. But I guess that, such fractal are existing in the market, if you watching index movement everyday.

On another aspest, the technique of plotting data in a phase space is a tool to get the picture of financial market to me. This tools can be compared with weighted moving average, MACD, or other technical indicators. Though, phase space analysis is quite uneasy to a man without advanced mathematics. I'm quite sure such mathematical technique may apply to financial trading.

Besides, the idea of "quasi-periodic" is likely describing financial market. Though I got less knowledge from the book on this topic. It sounds like some ideas from William Gann, and other cyclist writings.

Hince, I'm benefitted from the book to enlighten new view point to see the world, and the market. I recommend any financial market practitioner to read this Chaos Theory guild and then reread some technical analysis classics, and reviewing their trading strategies. I believe that shall be worthy in one's trading life.

N.B. The picture 2.7 is missing (P.76), and there is some printing errors in its Chinese version which printed in 20.6.1997 ... Read more

Product Description

Among the most advanced topics in the literature in the Austro-libertarian milieu is that which deals with the workings of the fully free society, that is, the society with no state, or anarcho-capitalism. Robert Murphy deals with this head on, and makes the first full contribution to this literature in the new century. Working within a Rothbardian framework, he takes up the challenge of Hans Hoppe regarding the role of market insurance in property security to extend the analysis to the security of person.

Product Description
The latest developments in chaos theory — from an industry expert

Chaos and Order in the Capital Markets was the first book to introduce and popularize chaos as it applies to finance. It has since become the classic source on the topic. This new edition is completely updated to include the latest ripples in chaos theory with new chapters that tie in today's hot innovations, such as fuzzy logic, neural nets, and artificial intelligence.

Critical praise for Peters and the first edition of Chaos and Order in the Capital Markets

"The bible of market chaologists." — BusinessWeek

"Ed Peters has written a first-class summary suitable for any investment professional or skilled investor." — Technical Analysis of Stocks & Commodities

"It ranks among the most provocative financial books of the past few years. Reading this book will provide a generous payback for the time and mental energy expended." — Financial Analysts Journal

This second edition of Chaos and Order in the Capital Markets brings the topic completely up to date with timely examples from today's markets and descriptions of the latest wave of technology, including genetic algorithms, wavelets, and complexity theory.

Chaos and Order in the Capital Markets was the very first book to explore and popularize chaos theory as it applies to finance. It has since become the industry standard, and is regarded as the definitive source to which analysts, investors, and traders turn for a comprehensive overview of chaos theory. Now, this invaluable reference — touted by BusinessWeek as "the bible of market chaologists" — has been updated and revised to bring you the latest developments in the field.

Mainstream capital market theory is based on efficient market assumptions, even though the markets themselves exhibit characteristics that are symptomatic of nonlinear dynamic systems. As it explores — and validates — this nonlinear nature, Chaos and Order repudiates the "random walk" theory and econometrics. It shifts the focus away from the concept of efficient markets toward a more general view of the forces underlying the capital market system.

Presenting new analytical techniques, as well as reexamining methods that have been in use for the past forty years, Chaos and Order offers a thorough examination of chaos theory and fractals as applied to investments and economics. This new edition includes timely examples from today's markets and descriptions of cutting-edge technologies-genetic algorithms, wavelets, complexity theory-and hot innovations, such as fuzzy logic and artificial intelligence.

Beyond the history of current capital market theory, Chaos and Order covers the crucial characteristics of fractals, the analysis of fractal time series through rescaled range analysis (R/S), the specifics of fractal statistics, and the definition and analysis of chaotic systems. It offers an in-depth exploration of:

• Random walks and efficient markets — the development of the efficient market hypothesis (EMH) and modern portfolio theory
• The linear paradigm — why it has failed
• Nonlinear dynamic systems — phase space, the Henon Map, Lyapunov exponents
• Applying chaos and nonlinear methods — neural networks, genetic algorithms
• Dynamical analysis of time series — reconstructing a phase space, the fractal dimension

Tonis Vaga's Coherent Market Hypothesis — the theory of social imitation, control parameters, Vaga's implementations

Plus, Chaos and Order now contains a Windows-compatible disk including data sets for running analyses described in the appendices.

Written by a leading expert in the field, Chaos and Order in the Capital Markets has all the information you need for a complete, up-to-date look at chaos theory. This latest edition will undoubtedly prove to be as invaluable as the first. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Poorly explained
I have a university maths degree and found the book very obvious and drawn out for the first few chapters. In spite of this I looked forward to what was going to be explained later. Suddenly from a very simple and easy to understand explanation on the EMH he starts to use mathematics in his equations that I had a lot of difficulty following. There was very little or no explanation of how these equations were arrived at and a lot of mathematics and statisics is assumed. This book does not apply the theory in ny meaningful way to the markets let alone the capital markets in my opinion. I found that I took very little away from this book and would not recommend it to anyone who has basic mathematics like myself or is looking for some deeper insight into the markets. I would hate to have Mr Peters as a teacher based on his book.

A very good introduction
I read this book, the 1991 version, years ago. Around 1980 my own attempts to crack share prices statistically convinced me that all share prices behaved like a Gaussian random walk meaning that all speculation was comparable with playing roulette andI am not one of those guys who usually wins when gambling. This view was strengthened when the option pricing model came up, meaning that even thereal pro's in the field assume that share prices are nothing but a random walk. This book has opened my eyes to the fact that there is much more to randomness than just the Gaussian curve. Share prices are not fully random. Impressive is the demonstration that an RS analysis on the real data is different when applying the same RS analysis on scrambled data. So there is information hidden in these time series, somewhere. Since then I have picked up the subject of cracking time series again with great pleasure. I think this book is exceptionally well written and without it I doubt if I would have been able to follow Mandelbrot's book "scaling and fractals in finance" that I bought later. The book is about understanding a subject, not about learning a simple formula to apply on a time series.

A dated overview, with little real meat
The second edition of this book was published in 1996.The book
seems to be largely based on Feder's 1988 book "Fractals".The
dated nature of this book means that it is missing later work
on long memory processes, which Peters estimates using the Hurst
exponent.

As one reviewer already noted, don't assume that this book will
provide much in the way of useful equations.For anyone who wants
more than an overview, this book is a disappointment.Peters does
a poor job of explaining the equations and I did not find enough
detail to implement the algorithms discussed (I turned to Feder's
book and various journal articles).The book does come with a
"floppy" disk containing the Visual Basic algorithms.This is
a poor choice, since C is pretty much the lingua franca for
algorithms.

The various chaos and fractal techniques are applied to a handful
of financial data sets, but this is far from even a solid
suggestion that these techniques might be useful to anyone
developing real market models.

Some of the conclusions that Peters draws (cycles in financial
data) do not seem to be supported the evidence he presents.

In summary, if you are looking for something beyond an overview,
save your money.Feder ("Fractals") has a better description of
RS calculation."A Non-Random Walk Down Wall Street" by Lo
and MacKinlay has a chapeter on the application of the RS
statistic and long-memory processes which is much better than
Peters.For those who need to simulate fractal brownian motion
(data sets with a particular Hurst exponent) "The Science of
Fractal Images" by Barnsley et all is a good reference.

Good overview, bad balance
If you're looking for a purely conceptual introduction to how chaos theory can be applied to financial markets, this book is as good a source as any. Peters's discussion of R/S statistics and the graphical examples drawn from the markets are clear and intuitive (Ch. 7-8). The key point demonstrating long-term memory effects in the market is well made.

However he spends an inordinate amount of time attacking the foundations of the efficient market hypothesis (EMH) to the point of being boring, yet the argument boils down to "it has errors when compared to reality". Duh, so does every other theory, including fractal. The real issue is "for the error in theory A, how bad are the results X, and is theory B much better at it?" If you're not going to do that, don't spend 40 pages (Ch. 1-4) on it. This is misleading to those not familiar with EMH, and boring to those who are.

Don't look to this book for good math. In my edition (1991), careless and erroneous notations abound. Also, the equations are written in BASIC notation which is notoriously hard to visualize, but this is probably the fault of the editor/publisher. Peters makes frequent and unannounced jumps between the apparent rigor of math and loose conjectures. The math is distracting to a qualitative reader, and the conjectures irritating to the quantitative one. Better to cater to one audience, and do it well.

Still, I would recommend this book as a good conceptual introduction to the subject. But if you're planning to go deeper, use the equations in this book at your own perils. Go to the source.

Commit it to the flames
For those of you intrigued by chaos versus the financial markets, I would suggest you get the basic knowledge in Garnett P. Williams "Chaos Theory Tamed" (if you don't mind being explained in the first twenty chapters things like the laws of exponents and logarithms), or the Devaney books, for people with some maths. By the time you finish these honest, carefully and painstakingly written books, you will have a fair understanding of what chaos theory is about, and you will also see that while it is interesting stuff, it is hard to imagine it having any practical relevance to finance, since finance is the realm of stochastic, not deterministic phenomena.

Mr. Peters' readers will not have the chance of gaining such a perspective on chaos or on finance, alas. Mr. Peters hasn't produced a clear, comprehensible text, but rather a imprecise and frustrating piece, presumably written in a very short time, filled with a huge number of graphs having epsilon informational content. It is also full of conceptual mistakes - Mr. Peters most probably doesn't have a good grasp of what he's speaking about, but to be fair, it is hard to tell since the implicit message of the book is: "Hey, like I'm going to give out all my secrets...! Forget it, baby!", so the readers are never given all of the story. Readers therefore have to decide whether they believe that the author has found a meaningful and secret way to use chaos, that unfortunately will not be revealed, or whether the author should be put in the same category as those who write about Crystals or Financial Astrology.

Can smart people make profit with chaos theory? Certainly! However, the only way to do so is by writing books about it...

Profit which seems interesting, since Wiley accepted to publish a second product from Mr. Peters, thereby losing all credibility as an editor of financial books. ... Read more

Product Description
Chaos theories have revolutionized scientists' concept of the physical world over the past 50 years. Variously called chaos, nonlinear dynamical systems, self-organization, and the broader science of complexity, this new way of seeing stands in sharp contrast to the linear, reductionistic models that have dominated most psychological thinking. Theories of chaos, complexity and self-organization also have potential for psychology, offering a model for behaviour that resonates more closely with psychologists' understanding of the vicissitudes of human change. In this text, group and family therapists as well as developmentalists and researchers describe the impact that chaos, complexity, and self-organization have on their understanding of human change. The book begins with a general and easy-to-understand description of chaos and complexity theories. Following this, three parts focus on topics long debated within psychology. In the first part, new models of develpment are presented that will correspond more closely with many psychologists' every-day observations of development.In the second part, regression, dissociative disorders, and childhood trauma are re-examined from this new perspective, showing how this theoretical stance helps to normalize the often bizarre symptoms of clients with these disorders. Next, group and family dynamics are explored and case examples given of how to integrate these new models of behaviour to understand clients as they struggle to restructure and reorganize their lives. ... Read more

Product Description
While many books have discussed methodological advances in nonlinear dynamical systems theory (NDS), this volume is unique in its focus on NDS's role in the development of psychological theory. After an introductory chapter covering the fundamentals of chaos, complexity, and other nonlinear dynamics, subsequent chapters provide in-depth coverage of each of the specific topic areas in psychology. A concluding chapter takes stock of the field as a whole, evaluating important challenges for the immediate future. The chapters are written by experts in the use of NDS in each of their respective areas, including biological, cognitive, developmental, social, organizational, and clinical psychology. Each chapter provides an in-depth examination of theoretical foundations and specific applications and a review of relevant methods. This edited collection represents the state of the art in NDS science across the disciplines of psychology. ... Read more

Product Description
TRADING CHAOS APPLYING EXPERT TECHNIQUES TO MAXIMIZE YOUR PROFITS

Chaos theory now stands at the cutting edge of financial decision-making methods. The product of years of scientific investigation into unpredictable phenomena, it has the potential to offer traders entirely new perspectives on the movements of markets—and less risky routes to greater, more consistent profitability. Unlike other books on the subject, Trading Chaos takes chaos analysis out of the realm of the abstract and makes complex concepts easy to understand and use. It offers you the most practical, comprehensive guide available to applying chaos theory to the real world of trading and investing.

In this breakthrough work, author Bill Williams gives you the benefit of his unique qualifications: 35 years of successful trading and a PhD in psychology. The instructional techniques used in Trading Chaos have been tested and refined in the workshops, seminars, and private tutoring sessions Dr. Williams has conducted in 12 different countries.

Designed for all traders—from beginner to experienced professional—Trading Chaos introduces you to the financial applications of chaos in five graduated stages, starting with a clear, nontechnical introduction (Level One: The Novice Trader) all the way to chart analysis, fractals, Elliott wave, and advanced nonlinear dynamics (Level Five: The Expert Trader).

Trading Chaos probes depths of human and economic behavior that other books do not even mention, including:

• A detailed examination of the underlying structure of the market
• How individual belief systems affect the way we trade
• How to determine "what the market wants"
• Most importantly—"how to want what the market wants"

Numerous charts, trading models, analysis spreadsheets, and review questions reinforce the key concepts and help insure full comprehension of the material.

Regardless of your current degree of expertise, Trading Chaos will take you to new levels of trading confidence and increased profit.

This practical guide to the powerful tools of chaos theory will help you make better, more profitable trades

"Bill Williams brings a unique background and experience to the commodity trading world. His approach to becoming a successful trader includes many fresh and fascinating concepts for traders of all experience levels."—Bruce Babcock Editor, Commodity Traders Consumer Report

"Bill Williams has demystified the Elliott Wave. His technical approach is an innovative and effective way to trade markets for novice and expert traders alike."—Bob Koppel Skylane Trading Group

"Trading Chaos by Bill Williams is an excellent guide to profiting from a market which is nonlinear in structure. The book is divided into logical levels of trading techniques useful to the novice and expert trader. I was genuinely surprised that the expert can still learn refreshingly new techniques at each level presented."—Timothy C. Slater Managing Director of Dow Jones Telerate Seminars

Trading Chaos takes chaos theory out of the abstract realm and into the real world of practical investment decision-making. Using the techniques in this remarkable book, you will uncover the hidden patterns of what appear to be the random, unpredictable movements of the commodity, futures, and options markets. Regardless of your current level of experience, expert commodity trader and trainer Bill Williams will give you the skills and insights to move to levels of trading ability you would not have imagined possible.

Clear, practical, and nontechnical—Unlike other books on chaos theory, Trading Chaos is designed to be easy to understand and use

Unique organizational format—Introduces the reader to the financial applications of chaos in five graduated stages, from Novice to Expert Trader

Expert advice on avoiding common psychological traps and pitfalls—Including such self-limiting afflictions as the "paralysis of analysis," "opinionitis," and the dangers of trading on individual belief systems

A wealth of supplementary materials—Charts, trading models, trade plans, analysis spreadsheets, and trading diaries illustrate and reinforce key concepts ... Read more

Customer Reviews (21)

trading chaos
Delivery is on time as promise, book is in great cond. Great seller.Thank you! Will do business again.

Great info on Chaos Trading
Even though much of what is taught in this book is not used as much due to the more recent book by Bill Williams and his daughter, it is still a great read.Gives all the basic principles of Chaos, the Alligator, Fractals, etc.You can't go wrong reading this book if you are using Chaos as a method for trading.

As Simple as it is Powerful
I am a BIG believer in Bill Williams and his body of work.

I will admit, this book is the most confusing of his three.It is also the FIRST book of his three.If you buy this now, buy it to "fill in the blanks" but use his later works as the backbone of your trading.

I have personally met with Bill, taken his home study course and even attended a private tutorial.Bill is the real deal.He is a *highly* profitable trader and Bill trades EXACTLY like he describes in his books (simplified over time, so Trading Chaos, 2nd Ed. is the LATEST and most refined method).

READ THE FIRST CHAPTER OF THIS BOOK (it's free online here, just click on excerpts).This chapter alone is worth the entire book.If you just want to trade with no other background information, Buy Trading Chaos, 2nd Edition (not this book) and start with chapter seven.When you get to the end of the book, you'll say, "That's it?!?!Than can't be it!"That's what I said.I then went on to take his home study course (13 weeks) and then went to a private tutorial.95% of the methodology is IN THE BOOK!The more advanced stuff is for those who are scaling into positions and want more aggressive money management techniques.

Who am I to say this works?I started trading Bill's techniques from scratch.In LESS than 6 months I was up 95% in a medium sized account.I found some like-minded investors and we started our own Hedge Fund (more specifically, a commodity pool).I called Bill personally and he spoke with me at length about how I should flow into and out of my positions, etc.He went far above and beyond the call of duty.I cannot speak to how well my Pool is doing (not legal to disclose - considered solicitation of investors), so I cannot give figures of returns for the Pool.

Buy Trading Chaos 2nd Edition (not this book) and then buy "New Trading Dim mentions" (his second book) and read chapters 9 - 11.Those chapters will give you more ideas of the SCOPE of just what is possible when you simplify your trading and align it with natural market tendencies (chaos principles).

Good luck and Good Trading!

-- Q

Incomprehensible
I am a lawyer and have spent most of my life reading, and had read many books on trading before I read this one.It looked like the holy grail, so the three or four key chapters, I read over and over trying to determine 3 simple things:Where to buy/sell short, where to place the stop loss, where to exit the trade. I confess, I was never able to determine that, from the text, although the author seems to assume that he has made that clear to the reader.

Joke
The five stars is only for the cover.However, the content of the book is pathetic.I have read many trading books and several chaos books and I can honestly say this book is neither.I fell for the enlightened self-similar structure cover and wasted my money.Don't repeat my mistake.

If you are interested in chaos and trading, start with Edgar Peters books such as Chaos and the Capital Markets.

The publisher, Wiley, should be ashamed to put out this sort of drivel.Bill Williams is a joke.If you think your trading style is based on your body type, then maybe this book will help you feel better about losing; otherwise skip it and Bill Williams, PhD.'s other lobotomized treatises on trading. ... Read more

Product Description
Design course on the universal principle of configurations in nature and engineering-the constructal law

Design with Constructal Theory offers a revolutionary new approach based on physics for understanding and predicting the designs that arise in nature and engineering, from the tree and the forest to the cooling of electronics, urban design, decontamination, and vascular smart materials. This book shows how you can use the method of constructal theory to design human-made systems in order to reduce trial and error and increase the system performance.

First developed in the late 1990s, constructal theory holds that flow architecture arises from the natural evolutionary tendency to generate greater flow access in time and in flow configurations that are free to morph. It unites flow systems with solid mechanical structures, which are viewed as systems for the flow of stresses. Constructal theory unites nature with engineering, and helps us generate novel designs across the board, from high-density packages to vascular materials with new functionalities (self-healing, self-cooling), and from tree-shaped heat exchangers to svelte fluid-flow and solid structures.

Design with Constructal Theory starts with basic principles and then shows how these principles are applied to understanding and designing increasingly complex systems. Problems and exercises at the end of each chapter give you an opportunity to use constructal theory to solve actual design problems.

This book is based on a design course developed by the two authors for upper-level undergraduates and graduate students at Duke University and other universities all over the world. With the authors' expert guidance, students and professionals in mechanical, civil, environmental, chemical, aerospace, and biomedical engineering will understand natural systems, and then practice design as science, by relying on constructal strategies to pursue and discover novel and effective designs. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Great book, reviewed by H Zhang
This book formulates in a graceful and unique way a brand-new and valuable approach for design based on a general physics law- constructal law on flow configration generation (in nature and engineering). I like the book because the approach is very useful and efficient and the writing is very interesting.
The book covers thermodynamics and design, single flow configurations, networks with distribution and collection, multiscale configurations, multi-objective configurations, dendritic heat exchangers, configurations for thermal and mass distribution, combined mechanical and flow configurations, vascularized smart materials etc. The latest advances are reported in many chapters.
I strongly recommend this book to university students, engineers, researchers and those who may be interested in improving their "design". It's a must-read and deserves 5 stars!

Pursuing better designs
This is an excellent book. It is full of new ideas that inspire us in the direction of pursuing better designs, and of understanding design in nature. I will use it as a textbook for my Constructal Theory and Design class in the Computational Modeling Graduate Program at Federal University of Rio Grande. I strongly recommend it to all engineering professors who teach DESIGN.

Growing Constructally
Since its inception by 1996, Constructal Theory is delivering more things than it ever promised - a trait of a good theory, as can be verified from the History of Science.

Over the last decade the theory has been successfully applied in giving a theoretical framework for some empirical notions in many fields - road transport, heat sink design, electrical networks, tree shapes, bird flight, animal allometric laws, social networks, pyramid shapes, Zipf function, the list is growing.

Guided with a simple coupled optimization technique, the gamut of things the theory predicts and explains is amazing. I bought the book to keep myself abreast of these exciting ramifications. The book details constructal theory in clear and rich (contrast with muddled and flowery) language - the hallmark of any of the books by the author.

The book is a must for those who are curious to explore new design paradigms that is firmly based on analytical and predictive theory. In fact, if not for the design utility, the book should deck our library simply for what it represents - the Joy of Theory. ... Read more

Product Description

Product Description
This book provides a broad coverage and has acessible style of exposition.Emphasis is on physical concepts and useful results, rather than rigorous mathematical proofs. Completeing this volume is free and user-friendly software. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Clear, comprehensive and engaging
This book covers a lot of material on chaos and fractals briefly but in detail. The writing is very clear and engaging; the mathematics is presented clearly. This book is especially notable for its clear descriptions of the algorithms used to do the analyses described, and for its accessible coverage of methods for analyzing data (rather than equations) from complex systems. It would be particularly useful for ecologists (and possibly economists) with long-term data sets to analyze.

Clear and comprehensive
I had heard about this book from a friend with an interest in nonlinear dynamics; this is surprising in itself, since the book has been out for less than a year and already seems to be getting a positive reputation.The book more than lived up to my friend's recommendation.It is encyclopedic and remarkably clear.For anyone who is interested in linking nonlinear dynamical theory with empirical methodology, this is the best place that I know of to start.

Best book on chaos/complexity theory & data analysis
For those wishing to upgrade their grasp of chaos theory, dynamics, nonlinear data analysis, with an introduction to related aspects of complexity including fractals and complex systems, this is the best book I have yet seen, and supplements the excellet visual dynamics books by Ralph Abraham. It arose from the upper level course taught by Sprott at the University of Wisconsin. The book is well supported by his website, which will always keep the book updated. It is nicely hands-on with lots of exercises and a programming project with each chapter. For those impatient to write programs, having a program like Berkeley Madonna to solve systems equations is handy for exploring some of the example systems. It has three excellent appendices, one a catalog of 62 dynamical systems, another useful mathematical formulas, and the last a compilation of useful journals. I found it incredibly comprehensive covering all aspects of the many subjects. And exceptionally clear, updating any necessary mathematics with clear explanations... ... Read more

Product Description
From Catastrophe to Chaos: A General Theory of EconomicDiscontinuities presents and unusual perspective on economicsand economic analysis. Current economic theory largely depends uponassuming that the world is fundamentally continuous. However, anincreasing amount of economic research has been done using approachesthat allow for discontinuities such as catastrophe theory, chaostheory, synergetics, and fractal geometry. The spread of suchapproaches across a variety of disciplines of thought has constituteda virtual intellectual revolution in recent years. This book reviewsthe applications of these approaches in various subdisciplines ofeconomics and draws upon past economic thinkers to develop anintegrated view of economics as a whole from the perspective ofinherent discontinuity. ... Read more