[Book Review: SYNC: The Emerging Science of Spontaneous Order]

Abstract

From Publishers Weekly (Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.): "Strogatz is a Cornell mathematician and pioneer of the science of synchrony, which brings mathematics, physics, and biology to bear on the mystery of how spontaneous order occurs at every level of the cosmos, from the nucleus on up. In this eminently accessible and entertaining book..., Strogatz explores synchrony in chaos systems, at the quantum level, in small-world networks as exemplified by the parlor game `six degrees of Kevin Bacon' and in human behavior involving fads, mobs and the herd mentality of stock traders. The author traces how the isolated and often accidental discoveries of researcheres are beginning to get into the science of synchrony, and he amply illustrates how the laws of mathematics underlie the universe's uncanny capacity for spontaneous order."