Studies of Nonlinear Phenomena in Life Sciences - Vol. 3
THE LURE OF MODERN SCIENCE
Fractal Thinking
by B J West & B Deering (Univ. North Texas)
The authors describe mostly in non-technical language the development of a new scientific paradigm based on nonlinear deterministic dynamics and fractal geometry. The concepts from these two mathematical disciplines are interwoven with data from the physical, social and life sciences. In this way rather sophisticated mathematical concepts are made accessible through experimental data from various disciplines, and the formalism is relegated to appendices. It is shown that the complexity of natural and social phenomena invariably lead to inverse power law distributions, both in terms of probabilities and spectra. This book tries to show how to think differently about familiar phenomena, such as why the bell-shape curve ought not to be used in teaching or in the characterization of such complex phenomena as intelligence.
Contents:
- Lure of Modern Science
- Linear Spaces and Geometry in Natural
Philosophy
- Noise in Natural Philosophy
- Self-Similarity, Fractals and Measurements
- Maps and Dynamics
- Dynamics in Fractal Dimensions
Readership: Students of biology, physics and the social sciences.
"Like a review article, topics are chosen to reflect scholarly importance, and every idea and concept is well documented with ample references to the literature. Like a trade book, the book does not require extensive background in physics and has a style that makes it hard to put down ... The book, in fact, is the among the best introductions for the newcomer to the area of 'statistical thinking' that I have seen ... I recommend this book to undergraduates and beginning graduate students who want to get a concrete impression of what many statistical mechanicians are actually doing today."
| Journal of Statistical Physics |
"It provides the reader with a good grounding in nonlinear science and, at the same time, a superb critique of the traditional natural science approaches that often dominate our thinking."
| Complexity and Chaos in Nursing |
| 432pp |
Pub. date: May 1995 |
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