Product Description

'SYNC' IS A STORY OF A DAZZLING KIND OF ORDER IN THE UNIVERSE, THE HARMONY THAT COMES FROM CYCLES IN SYNC. THE TENDENCY TO SYCHRONIZE IS ONE OF THE MOST FAR- REACHING DRIVES IN ALL OF NATURE. IT EXTENDS FROM PEOPLE TO PLANETS, FROM ANIMALS TO ATOMS. IN 'SYNC' PROFESSOR STEVEN STROGATZ CONSIDERS A RANGE OF APPLICATIONS - HUMAN SLEEP AND CIRCADIAN RHYTHMS, MENSTRUAL SYNCHRONY, INSECT OUTBREAKS, SUPERCONDUCTORS, LASERS, SECRET CODES, HEART ARRHYTHMIAS AND FADS - CONNECTING ALL TRHOUGH AN EXPLORATION OF THE SAME MATHEMATICAL THEME: SELF- ORGANISATION, OR THE SPONTANEOUS EMERGENCE OF ORDER OUT OF CHAOS. FOCUSED ENOUGH TO PRESENT A COHERENT WORLD UNTO THEMSELVES, STROGATZ'S CHOSEN TOPICS TOUCH ON SEVERAL OF THE HOTTEST DIRECTIONS IN CONTEMPORARY SCIENCE.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #111513 in Books
• Published on: 2004-04-29
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

About the Author
Steven Strogatz is Professor of Applied Mathematics at Cornell University and one of the world's leading researchers into chaos, complexity and synchronization. His seminal reasearch has been featured in Nature, Science, Scientific American, The New York Times, the New Yorker, and the Daily Telegraph.

Customer Reviews

Popular science done very well
This book is one of the best examples of popular science that I have read. The author is a scientist and knows his stuff but he also has the ability to explain his material in very simple terms. He does this by the use of relevant and well thought out analogies.

Sync is about things in nature that synchronize without any central controller. Strogatz starts with the example of Fireflies that flash on and off together in their thousands. The book then takes us on a journey through a surprisingly large range of natural phenomena that exhibit sync and the science that is revealing how sync works.

This is a relatively easy book to read. There are no equations. The writing style is as good as any I have encountered. There are real and interesting characters and just the right level of humour. It is not a text book and does not pretend to be. It is popular (but serious) science done very well.

Best of all for me is the genuine excitement which the book conveys about this subject. It has inspired me to seek out other books on the same theme and I would definitely read another book by Steven Strogatz.

Universal harmony
Sync investigates the concept of universal harmony. The drive to synchronization is one of the most far-reaching phenomena in the universe, encompassing people, planets, atoms, animals and a whole lot more. But the laws of Thermodynamics seem to dictate the opposite - that nature should degenerate toward entropy. This is not so, as magnificent small and large structures like galaxies and cells keep assembling themselves in perfect harmony.

Drawing on Chaos & Complexity Theory, Strogatz examines the connections linking the phenomena of the mathematics of self-organization, where trillions of interactions result in order emerging from chaos. There is a steady and insistent pulse at the heart of the cosmos that resonates from the nucleus of the cell to the largest galaxy in a chorus of synchronized cycles that pervade all of nature.

The author refers to the work of scientists from many disciplines, including Einstein, Richard Feynman, Brian Josephson, Norbert Wiener, Paul Erdos, Stanley Milgram, Boris Belousov Edward Lorenz and Arthur Winfree. Part One, Living In Sync, deals with these manifestations in for example human brainwaves and the behaviour of fireflies, whilst Part Two, Discovering Sync, looks at the universe as a whole and at quantum theory. Part Three, Exploring Sync, investigates synchronization, chaos and small world networks.

There are some black and white illustrations, copious notes and an index. This book is a fascinating journey through the strange and beautiful phenomenon of synchronization, the harmonious music of the universe that builds and sustains life.

A superb read.
Inspiring, entertaining, fascinating. Sync is a real treasure trove for anyone interested in emergence, non-linear dynamics, networks and A-Life. It's great that he takes a fresh angle to this subject matter, and there are lots of anecdotes and examples that are not in any of the other popular books on these subjects. Definitely in my Top 10!