The Collapse of Chaos: Discovering Simplicity in a Complex World

by Jack Cohen, Ian Stewart

Traditional science tries to answer the question: How does complexity arise in nature? But, say Jack Cohen and Ian Stewart in their exhilarating book, the more interesting question is: Why is there any simplicity?

Beginning with a guided tour of the Islands of Truth that tells us everything we need to know about science from Newton to the present, the authors dive into the Oceans of Ignorance that surround them - turning conventional science on its head and putting it in a larger context. Provocative and controversial, their approach enables us to look at the world in a startling new way.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Philosophy, Mathematics, Physics, Stem, Biology

495 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Jack Cohen was a reproductive biologist and science fiction consultant and author.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.

Reviews

[Coqueline · Rating 2 out of 5]

It had to be admitted that I learned new things from this book. I have read and enjoyed lots of other popular science books, however it took me almost two months of commuting time to (barely) finish it. The writing style is very repetitive, and the author overuses the tool of analogy. I particularly skipped all the parts on the made up conversation between a human and an alien, since I didn't find it adding anything useful to the theme, except to water down some philosophical issues.

In the end, I gave up on the very last chapter, since I get the feeling it was just summing up what have been repeated too many times throughout the book.

[Patrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was pretty mind-blowing when I read it as a college freshman, but now it just seems too basic and the Platonic dialogues/vignettes with the alien are pedantic and, worse, boring.
I guess if you're interested in complexity theory and haven't ever read much about the philosophy of science this would be a fun and approachable book. Could make good summer reading for a high school science class.

[Pi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Stopping the read because I just can't bring myself to finish this book... The idea underlying the book is quite nice, but in the end it just amounts to a potpourri of loosely connected concepts and ideas. The common thread is missing somehow.

[Frank · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had turned to this book expecting a detailed introductory text on chaos theory. What I got was thought provoking and very different.

The first half of this book is a very pedestrian walk-through of chaos and catastrophe theory. If you are an occasional reader of popular math articles, you will already be acquainted with strange attractors, fractals, Mandelbrot sets, etc. The illustrations from developmental biology were new for me. But the level of novel content threshold never exceeded 5%, and I began to despair that I'd misspent my reading time. But the second half takes things in a fresh and remarkable direction. JC & IS argue persuasively that:

* the physics led, reductionist paradigm, which has dominated science since Newton, is inadequate to address many phenomena.
* that feature-based emergent phenomena, resistant to encapsulation as succinct laws of nature, are not only a commonplace, but the outcome of unexplored characteristics of the structure of reality.
* that science has been neglecting the task of developing a meta theory demonstrating the necessity of emergence, and outlining the conditions of its appearance.

These ideas remind me most of Ian McGilchrist's The Master and the Emissary. McGilchrist's book was more wide ranging, covering European culture over centuries, but his warning about the dangers that a domineering, reductive outlook could blind our sensibility is analogous to J Cohen's argument. We can imagine Cohen formulating these ideas in response to the mathematisation of biology.

[Günther Leenaert · Rating 1 out of 5]

I found the book somewhat bland, solely because I've already had all the insights contained within myself and I'm also already familiar with all the concepts. It got to the point where I was scanning the pages for new information. I know, I know, "Shame... shame... shame!"

/takes off monocle

I must admit, I hastily picked this up in the local library — from the 'maths' shelf — because I didn't want to leave with just 2 books. On the back it says one of the authors is a mathematician, so I half expected this to be a genuine maths book or at least a more rigorous exposé. It's neither. It's a fairly bland simplistic collection of examples where simplicity and order is thought to be found in what where initially perceived to be complex or chaotic matters, like Life (DNA). Interesting and all, but not an interesting read if you're already in that mode of thought. Meta.

Kudos to Patty Adelaar for the Dutch translation, though!

[Eli Berry · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book takes a nuanced perspective on what a Theory of Everything is and the implications of one. While reading the second half of this book I became depressed at times thinking about how reductionism is not actually a useful way to describe the world. However, the authors do a great job of explaining how the complexity of the world should be viewed from both a reductionist and contextualist standpoint to understand the full picture. I am interested in if any concepts discussed in this book have been improved upon in the last 30 years, and what developments have been made in chaos theory. Even though this book was published in the 90s, it was still a fascinating perspective on viewing the world.

[Edward Kuruliouk · Rating 5 out of 5]

An insightful journey through our contemporary understanding of chaos in dynamical systems, with an emphasis on evolution and ecological dynamics. Interesting read for anybody who enjoys thinking about complexity, chaos, and/or game theory within a developmental/evolution framed context.

Thought stimulating and educational, I recommend this read for STEM oriented thinkers, and intellectuals curious about chaos theory and non-linear dynamics.

[Anna Eilertsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this between high school and university. At the time, I remember being equal parts fascinated and confused. It did spark a curiosity for several topics from the sciences that I later encountered in university courses. I am glad I read it when I did. Seven years and a Master's degree later, I revisited it and found it rambling and incoherent.

[Michal Paszkiewicz · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book that covers a very broad range of topics in a very readable manner. The authors propose reductionism with a splattering of some weak emergence. The dialogues with the aliens were rather annoying and the diagrams with twirly arrows were rather hopeless, but otherwise I enjoyed this read.

[Rod Haper · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dated. Science has moved on.

[Vu Nguyen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book to me is almost like a Bible. Are you intellectual curious with a scientific bend looking for some answer ? Read it, keep it, then read it again. Among my top 100 books in my collection.

[Alan Hughes · Rating 4 out of 5]

From Publishers Weekly

One step onto this ontological escalator with British biologist Cohen and British mathematician Stewart ( Does God Play Dice? ) and readers will zoom right to the metaphysical floor, where science displays its most basic assumptions. In the last 10 years, scientific thought has been marked by frequent paradigm shifts--from classical laws to chaos theory and complexity. In the first half of this book, the authors attempt to review the quantum world for general readers, an effort that is frequently undercut by their playful approach, e.g., a conversation about the organization of development between Augusta Ada, Lord Byron's daughter and "a founding figure in computer science," and Wallace Lupert, a fictitious modern biologist. Moving on to examine the basis for a belief in simplicity, they introduce two new concepts: simplexity and complicity. The former refers to the tendency of a simpler order to emerge from complexity, the latter is a kind of interaction between coevolving systems that supports a tendency toward complexity. The authors, hoping to challenge orthodoxy and to stimulate thought, confound rather than clarify.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

First there was chaos theory, best described in James Gleick's Chaos: The Making of a New Science ( LJ 8/87); then came complexity theory, the subject of Roger Lewin's Complexity: Life at the Edge of Chaos ( LJ 9/1/92). Perhaps the next inevitable unifying theory of science to emerge is simplicity. Whereas the former two schools of thought seek philosophical congruences between divergent trends in modern science, simplicity, as conceived by Cohen and Stewart (a reproductive biologist and a mathematician, respectively), goes farther to examine the underlying physical reasons why these unities exist. This is a cleverly written, whirlwind tour of science that stretches the mind and, in a few places, strains credulity. Still, the authors freely admit that they are being speculative, and they invite their readers to accompany them upon their intellectual journey. Mind benders like this book usually appeal to a rather small but fanatical readership. Mid-sized public and undergraduate libraries should consider it.
- Gregg Sapp, Montana State Univ. Libs., Bozeman
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

[Alexak · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this book about chaos theory. It's so densely packed with scientific and mathematical theory (laid out in a non-threatening, often humorous manner with specific examples taken from the everyday world) that I started it in 2005 and have yet to finish it. It's like a smarter, focused version of Bryson's A Short History of Everything, which I also loved. Although the writers focus on chaos theory and how it may or may not percolate throughout reality, they also touch on almost everything and the kitchen sink.

[Fergus · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful romp through science and the nature of the universe. This is the second time I've read it, and I think I understand and agree with it more now. They challenge some scientific "dogma" (selfish gene theory) and bring out some interesting ideas of their own. Obviously influenced by Godel, Escher, Bach with their lovely little Carollian dialogues.

[Peter Pike · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book *almost* gets 4 stars. It's mainly well written, although a bit dry in spots. The ideas are fascinating and definitely get me thinking. They handle the material fairly well through the majority of the book, but in the end I feel like they left a lot of issues unaddressed which were begging to be talked about.

[Paul Wilson]

Interesting, but I'm finding it tough going for some reason. Some bits were genuinely fascinating, others I found a slot to go through. Since I'd borrowed it from another library and had to return it promptly, I skimmed quite a lot rather than give it the detailed read that it probably warranted.

[Kyle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ian Stewart is an excellent science writer, and this collaboration is no exception. It takes the flatland concept further then I could have imagined.

[Teo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting views of the world around us.

[Scott Morrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars really...

[Wendy Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this!

[Michael Sterckx · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beginner's guide to quantum physics. Baffling, amazing and extremely fascinating. Not to be read just once I fear.

[Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic. Authors addressed so many examples where reductionist science falls short. I would recommend it to all scientists; particularly, geneticists, mathematicians and neuroscientists.

[Ben Ringel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting read from Jack Cohen dpm

[Deki Napolju · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was absolutely exhilarating although I probably understood none of it.