Chaos In The Cosmos: The Stunning Complexity of the Universe - Hardcover

Parker, Barry R.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0306452618 ISBN 13: 9780306452611

Verlag: Basic Books, 1996

Inhaltsangabe

'he year was 1889. The French physicist-mathematician Henry T Poincare could not believe his eyes. He had worked for months on one of the most famous problems in science-the problem of three bodies moving around one another under mutual gravita­ tional attraction-and what he was seeing dismayed and trou­ bled him. Since Newton's time it had been assumed that the problem was solvable. All that was needed was a little ingenuity and considerable perseverance, but Poincare saw that this was not the case. Strange, unexplainable things happened when he delved into the problem; it was not solvable after all. Poincare was shocked and dismayed by the result-so disheartened he left the problem and went on to other things. What Poincare was seeing was the first glimpse of a phe­ nomenon we now call chaos. With his discovery the area lay dormant for almost 90 years. Not a single book was written about the phenomenon, and only a trickle of papers appeared. Then, about 1980 a resurgence of interest began, and thousands of papers appeared along with dozens of books. The new science of chaos was born and has attracted as much attention in recent years as breakthroughs in superconductivity and superstring theory.

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Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Barry Parker Ph.D. is a professor of physics and astronomy at Idaho State University.

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As this remarkable book shows, we live in a universe beset with chaos. Highly acclaimed popular science writer Barry Parker shows - for the first time in a popular work - the amazing impact chaos theory is having on our understanding of the cosmos.

Aus dem Klappentext

As this remarkable book shows, we live in a universe beset with chaos. Highly acclaimed popular science writer Barry Parker shows - for the first time in a popular work - the amazing impact chaos theory is having on our understanding of the cosmos. Through vivid metaphors and imagery, Parker indoctrinates the reader into the fantastic realm of chaos theory, from the exquisitely detailed structure of fractals to strange attractors to stretching and folding space. He interviews the world's premier astronomers to discuss firsthand the challenge of applying these powerful concepts to the most intriguing paradoxes in astronomy; the workings of chaos in the bizarre tumbling orbit of one of Saturn's moons, the swirling migration of the great red spot of Jupiter, the explosive mechanics of pulsating stars, and the intricate dance of stars orbiting black holes. He also explains the exciting cutting-edge technology scientists employ as they learn - via computer images - to model accurately the movements of planets, suns, and even superclusters of galaxies millions of years into the past and future to explore the role of chaos in the mysterious genesis and fate of the universe. This burgeoning new science, like all brilliant theories, raises nearly as many questions as it answers. Is the universe a puzzle we will one day be able to solve? Chaos theory reminds us that unpredictability goes part and parcel with our dynamic universe. It also offers testimony to the elegantly complex structure of the universe. As Parker eloquently shows, this remarkable science, though still in its infancy, is destined to rank among the most potent and compelling forces that will shape the future of astronomy.

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Basic Books
• Erscheinungsdatum: 1996
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0306452618
• ISBN 13: 9780306452611
• Einband: Gebundene Ausgabe
• Anzahl der Seiten: 315
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Springer Nature Customer Service Center GmbH; ProductSafety@springernature.com; ; Europaplatz 3; Heidelberg; 69115; Deutschland