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Nonlinearity, Chaos and Complexity: The Dynamics of Natural and Social Systems

Cristoforo Sergio Bertuglia and Franco Vaio
Publisher: 
Oxford University Press
Publication Date: 
2005
Number of Pages: 
387
Format: 
Paperback
Price: 
79.50
ISBN: 
0-19-856791-X
Category: 
Textbook
We do not plan to review this book.

Preface
Part I: Linear and nonlinear processes
1.1. Introduction
1.2. Modelling
1.3. The Origins of System Dynamics: Mechanics
1.4. Linearity in Models
1.5. One of The Most Basic Natural Systems: The Pendulum
1.6. Linearity as a First, Often Insufficient Approximation
1.7. The Nonlinearity of Natural Processes: The Case of The Pendulum
1.8. Dynamical Systems and The Phase Space
1.9. Extension of The Concepts and Models Used in Physics to Economics
1.10. The Chaotic Pendulum
1.11. Linear Models in Social Processes: The Case of Two Interacting Populations
1.12. Nonlinear Models in Social Processes: The Model of Volterra-Lotka and Some of Its Variants in Ecology
1.13. Nonlinear Models in Social Processes: The Volterra-Lotka Model Applied to Urban and Regional Science
Part II: From nonlinearity to chaos
2.1. Introduction
2.2. Dynamical Systems and Chaos
2.3. Strange and Chaotic Attractors
2.4. Chaos in Real Systems and in Mathematical Models
2.5. Stability in Dynamical Systems
2.6. The Problem of Measuring Chaos in Real Systems
2.7. Logistic Growth as A Population Development Model
2.8. A Nonlinear Discrete Model: The Logistic Map
2.9. The Logistic Map: Some Results of Numerical Simulations and An Application
2.10. Chaos in Systems: The Main Concepts
Part III: Complexity
3.1. Introduction
3.2. Inadequacy of Reductionism
3.3. Some Aspects of The Classical Vision of Science
3.4. From Determinism to Complexity: Self-Organisation, A New Understanding of System Dynamics
3.5. What is Complexity?
3.6. Complexity and Evolution
3.7. Complexity in Economic Processes
3.8. Some Thoughts on The Meaning of 'Doing Mathematics'
3.9. Digression into The Main Interpretations of The Foundations of Mathematics
3.10. The Need for A Mathematics of (or for) Complexity
References
Name Index
Subject Index