Foundations of Synergetics I: Distributed Active Systems

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Mikhailov (physics, U. of Moscow) introduces theoretical aspects of cooperative behavior in active systems. He draws more on the reasoning of physics than on the proofs of traditional mathematics, and presents examples from such natural systems as chemical physics and such artificial systems as market economics--though his emphasis is theory rather than applications. He assumes a knowledge of differential calculus and linear algebra. The second volume covers stochastic aspects of self-organization and the properties of self- established chaos. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)