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5 inexpensive books to change your view of the natural world
Sync: The Emerging Science of Spontaneous Order (Penguin Press Science)Sync: The Emerging Science of Spontaneous Order (Penguin Press Science) by Steven Strogatz
Buy new: £6.96 / Used from: £4.46
Masterly introduction to interdisciplinary work in the science of synchronisation and spontaneous order.
Six Degrees: The Science of a Connected AgeSix Degrees: The Science of a Connected Age by Duncan J. Watts
Buy new: £5.98 / Used from: £3.50
Ever been told 'you're 6 people away from X'? Or wondered how the 'network' part of the internet joins ideas? Here's why and how.
Chaos: Making a New ScienceChaos: Making a New Science by James Gleick
Buy new: £6.46 / Used from: £0.01
One of the originals on the sources of Chaos Theory. Understand how and why those pretty Mandelbrot set images relate to the natural world.
Complexity: The Emerging Science at the Edge of Order and Chaos (Penguin Science)Complexity: The Emerging Science at the Edge of Order and Chaos (Penguin Science) by M.Mitchell Waldrop
Buy used from: £2.86
Extremely readable one-stop introduction to the origins and principles of 'the science of the 21st century'.
The Quark and the Jaguar: Adventures in the Simple and the ComplexThe Quark and the Jaguar: Adventures in the Simple and the Complex by Murray Gell-Mann
Buy new: £6.68 / Used from: £0.20
A wide-ranging, clear and inspiring overview from the grandfather of complexity.