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Originally Posted by GtrsRGr8
Chaos: Making a New Science. By James Gleick.
The book's way above my head. But one thing that I am capable of grasping is that, at only 99 cents, it is 95% off of the digital list price!
For centuries, scientific thought was focused on bringing order to the natural world. But even as relativity and quantum mechanics undermined that rigid certainty in the first half of the twentieth century, the scientific community clung to the idea that any system, no matter how complex, could be reduced to a simple pattern. In the 1960s, a small group of radical thinkers began to take that notion apart, placing new importance on the tiny experimental irregularities that scientists had long learned to ignore. Miniscule differences in data, they said, would eventually produce massive ones—and complex systems like the weather, economics, and human behavior suddenly became clearer and more beautiful than they had ever been before.
4.3 stars (258), New York Times bestseller, etc., etc.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004Q3RRPI. |
Quote:
Originally Posted by AnotherCat
I already have an epub copy of this on my tablet close to the top of my reading list. It looks to be an interesting book, is well illustrated and looks ok for lay readers - well worth the 99c for readers interested in physics (my first university degree was in physics so I am not just spouting smoke out my ears  in saying so, even though I have just skimmed it so far).
In fact having been reminded of it I have jumped it up so it is now the next to be read for me . |
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Originally Posted by Dngrsone
Dang, back up to $9.99... been eyeballing this one for years, just couldn't get myself to spend a lot of money on it.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by j.p.s
I read it 30 years ago when it was first published. It should not be over the head of anyone in or beyond high school. Gleick is excellent at presenting scientific and technical topics to a lay audience.
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Sorry that you missed it, Dngrsone. I hate to be a harbinger of bad news, but I checked its price history for about the last 5 1/2 years, and while it goes on sale fairly often, I never saw it that inexpensive over that period of time. $2.50 was the lowest. You might be interested in setting a price notification alert at
ereaderiq.com, and they'll let you know when the price of a book reaches your target price.
This markdown to 99 cents seemed to have lasted only one day. I almost always post deals as soon as I find them. I did with this one. But by the time the publisher put out the price, the source that I used published it, and then I saw it and posted it, there wasn't much "window" left for MobileReaders to see it.
I've got some confidence now that the subject isn't over my head. I think that I'd much better having it as an audiobook, however.
Speaking of physics audiobooks. Downpour has Neil Degrasse Tyson's Astrophysics for People in a Hurry for only $2.95 right now. I listened to part of the sample. For some reason, his narration didn't resonate with me, like his TV shows and videos do, what with all of the graphics and everything on them. YMMV.