A New Kind of Science
by Stephen Wolfram

List Price: $44.95
Our Price: $11.75
You Save: $33.20 (74%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $11.42 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions

Book Summary Information

Book Reviews of A New Kind of Science

Book Review: Big, Beautiful and Formidable
Summary: 5 Stars

Summary of A New Kind of Science

Wolfram uses his approach to tackle a remarkable array of fundamental problems in science: from the origin of the Second Law of thermodynamics, to the development of complexity in biology, the computational limitations of mathematics, the possibility of a truly fundamental theory of physics, and the interplay between free will and determinism.

Written with exceptional clarity, and illustrated by more than a thousand original pictures, this seminal book allows scientists and non-scientists alike to participate in what promises to be a major intellectual revolution.

On the frontier of complexity science since he was a boy, Wolfram is a champion of cellular automata--256 "programs" governed by simple nonmathematical rules. He points out that even the most complex equations fail to accurately model biological systems, but the simplest cellular automata can produce results straight out of nature--tree branches, stream eddies, and leopard spots, for instance. The graphics in A New Kind of Science show striking resemblance to the patterns we see in nature every day.

Wolfram wrote the book in a distinct style meant to make it easy to read, even for nontechies; a basic familiarity with logic is helpful but not essential. Readers will find themselves swept away by the elegant simplicity of Wolfram's ideas and the accidental artistry of the cellular automaton models. Whether or not Wolfram's revolution ultimately gives us the keys to the universe, his new science is absolutely awe-inspiring. --Therese Littleton

Biological Sciences Books

• Science
• Education > Research
• Experiments, Instruments & Measurement > Methodology & Statistics
• General
• Mathematics > Applied > General
• Mathematical Analysis
• Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Mathematics > Mathematical Analysis
• Computers & Internet > Computer Science