Chaos exists in systems all around us Even the simplest system of cause & effect can be subject to chaos denying us accurate predictions of its behaviour & sometimes giving rise to astonishing structures of large-scale order Our growing understanding of Chaos Theory is having fascinating applications in the real world
- from technology to global warming politics human behaviour & even gambling on the stock market Leonard Smith shows that we all have an intuitive understanding of chaotic systems He uses accessible maths & physics (replacing complex equations with simple examples like pendulums railway lines & tossing coins) to explain the theory & points to numerous examples in philosophy & literature (Edgar Allen Poe Chang-Tzu Arthur Conan Doyle) that illuminate the problems The beauty of fractal patterns & their relation to chaos as well as the history of chaos & its uses in the real world & implications for the philosophy of science are all discussed in this Very Short Introduction ABOUT THE SERIES The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly Our expert authors combine facts analysis perspective new ideas & enthusiasm to make interesting & challenging topics highly readable