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Chaos and Order: Complex Dynamics in Literature and Science
The scientific discovery that chaotic systems embody deep structures of order is one of such wide-ranging implications that it has attracted attention across a spectrum of disciplines, including the humanities. In this volume, fourteen theorists explore the significance for literary and cultural studies of the new paradigm of chaotics, forging connections between contemporary literature and the science of chaos. They examine how changing ideas of order and disorder enable new readings of scientific and literary texts, from Newton's Principia to Ruskin's autobiography, from Victorian serial fiction to Borges's short stories.
N. Katherine Hayles traces shifts in meaning that chaos has undergone within the Western tradition, suggesting that the science of chaos articulates categories that cannot be assimilated into the traditional dichotomy of order and disorder. She and her contributors take the relation between order and disorder as a theme and develop its implications for understanding texts, metaphors, metafiction, audience response, and the process of interpretation itself. Their innovative and diverse work opens the interdisciplinary field of chaotics to literary inquiry.
N. Katherine Hayles traces shifts in meaning that chaos has undergone within the Western tradition, suggesting that the science of chaos articulates categories that cannot be assimilated into the traditional dichotomy of order and disorder. She and her contributors take the relation between order and disorder as a theme and develop its implications for understanding texts, metaphors, metafiction, audience response, and the process of interpretation itself. Their innovative and diverse work opens the interdisciplinary field of chaotics to literary inquiry.
316 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1991
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 13, 2014
My favorite quote from the book:
“The microcomputer, for example, has been extremely important in the development of chaos theory, for it allows mathematics to be practiced as an experimental science. It has also affected how people have imagined themselves and their relation to the world. The two come together when someone sits down in front of a computer to model a dynamical non-linear system. Because the computer permits interaction, the practitioner need not proceed through the traditional mathematical method of theorem-proof. Instead she can set up a recursive program that begins when she feeds initial values for the equations into the computer. Then she watches as the screen display generated by the recursion evolves into constantly changing, often unexpected patterns. As the display continues, she adjusts the parameters to achieve different effects. With her own responses in a feedback loop with the computer, she develops an intuitive feeling for how the display and parameters interact. She notices that small changes in initial values can lead to large changes in the display. She also sees that, although the displays are complex, there are underlying symmetries that impart a pleasing, sometimes a startlingly beautiful quality to them. And she is subliminally aware that her interaction with the display could be thought of as one complex system (the behavior described by a set of nonlinear differential equations) interfaced with another (the human neural system) through the medium of the computer.” (p. 6)
The quote is a perfect illustration of a complex system at work, or a part of it. It's features are immediately apparent, ubiquitous, which gives one a sense of purpose; an intent that implies a positive worldview.
“The microcomputer, for example, has been extremely important in the development of chaos theory, for it allows mathematics to be practiced as an experimental science. It has also affected how people have imagined themselves and their relation to the world. The two come together when someone sits down in front of a computer to model a dynamical non-linear system. Because the computer permits interaction, the practitioner need not proceed through the traditional mathematical method of theorem-proof. Instead she can set up a recursive program that begins when she feeds initial values for the equations into the computer. Then she watches as the screen display generated by the recursion evolves into constantly changing, often unexpected patterns. As the display continues, she adjusts the parameters to achieve different effects. With her own responses in a feedback loop with the computer, she develops an intuitive feeling for how the display and parameters interact. She notices that small changes in initial values can lead to large changes in the display. She also sees that, although the displays are complex, there are underlying symmetries that impart a pleasing, sometimes a startlingly beautiful quality to them. And she is subliminally aware that her interaction with the display could be thought of as one complex system (the behavior described by a set of nonlinear differential equations) interfaced with another (the human neural system) through the medium of the computer.” (p. 6)
The quote is a perfect illustration of a complex system at work, or a part of it. It's features are immediately apparent, ubiquitous, which gives one a sense of purpose; an intent that implies a positive worldview.
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December 20, 2009Chaos and Order: Complex Dynamics in Literature and Science (New Practices of Inquiry) by N. Katherine Hayles (1991)
July 12, 2016
A series of intricate sciencey-and-literary essays which are accessible, absorb-able, and fun for anyone looking for a little mental gymnastics to put themselves through.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews