Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #194414 in Books
• Published on: 2000-03-02
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 512 pages

Synopsis
Do we live in a simple or a complex universe? Jack Cohen and Ian Stewart explore the ability of complicated rules to generate simple behaviour in nature through 'the collapse of chaos'. 'The most startling, thought-provoking book I've read all year. I was pleased to learn that most of the things I thought I knew were wrong' - Terry Pratchett.

Customer Reviews

Hard to follow
So without repeating a lot of what has already been written above, I'd like to concur Bobobob5 on the whole.

The first half of the book is a quick romp through 'conventional' science, as they would have it, which is ok, but marred by the regular snidey asides at science and scientists. I think they are supposed to be jokey, but in fact it justs put your back up.

A lot of the science described is baldly stated and therefore not terribly interesting to read, especially as you know they are about to 'debunk' it. This is unlike Bill Bryson's 'Short History of Everthing', for example, which is a far more detailed and enjoyable overview of Science's achievements thus far. I would recommend Mr Bryson's book in place of this first half of the 'Collapse of Chaos'.

And then the 2nd half is indeed muddled and confusing. We certainly get the impression that they think 'reductionism' is limited, but they don't half have trouble trying to explain why. They seem unable to explain their ideas without a myriad of odd analogies to 'prove their point', which do more to obfuscate than clarify. Talking endlessly around a subject is no substitute for a clear point rationally argued.

For a more rigourous and intellectually stimulating discussion of how consciousness can arise from simple rules, and whether a conscious being can ever 'know' itself, Hofstadter's 'Godel, Escher, Bach' is still lightyears ahead.

Interesting, funny and erudite
In my view an excellent book. It is hard to make science interesting and few writers do it well. It is even harder to make it funny, which these two also manage to do. But best of all is the quality of the thinking and the creativity of the ideas in this book.

There is much in science that is asserted without there being real evidence, and many theories which are accepted by science as proven when there are fundamental questions still remaining. If you have read "The Selfish Gene", and despite the brilliance and persuasiveness of the arguments still feel (as I do) that something is wrong you will like this book.

If you like to think, to be intellectually challenged and stimulated, to explore ideas, or to look at science in different ways than the conventional, I don't think you will be disappointed with this book.

Thorough and thought-provoking
The title of this book is slightly misleading, as it implies it is about chaos, complexity and simplicity.

In fact the first half of the book is a guided tour of biology, chemisty and physics. Covering how these great sciences got where they are today, from Newton to Darwin, DNA to the lattice structure of diamonds.

The second half then presents a new way to look at science. Rather then delving inside something to find underlying rules, we should view things in context.

For example, traditionally the law of gravity is seen as the underlying principle that explains planetary motion. Cohen and Stewart argue that it is just a rule (of thumb?) that fits the facts, and that there is no LAW of gravity, no grand design. Gravity is just the way it is, and our 'Law' of gravity suits our needs.

It seems a subtle distinction, but on reading this book it is quite an important one, and it has certainly given me a different view of the world.

Very intelligent and always interesting, this book is written for the layman and is always at pains to explains matters thoroughly and use every possible analogy to help get ideas across.

This book is worth twice the money for the first half alone - a perfect primer for those interested in science, but who dont want to get technical.

Cohen and Stewart are high level experts in their respective fields, and yet they write simply and lucidly, resulting in a desire to read further.