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The moon spins in perfect resonance with
its orbit around the Earth; millions of neurons fire together
to control our breathing; every night along the tidal rivers
of Malaysia, thousands of fireflies flash in silent, hypnotic
unison. All of these astonishing feats of synchrony occur
spontaneously -- as if the universe had an overwhelming
desire for order.
The tendency to synchronize may be the most
mysterious and pervasive drive in all of nature. It has
intrigued some of the greatest minds of the twentieth century,
including Albert Einstein, Richard Feynman, Norbert Wiener,
Brian Josephson, and Arthur Winfree. But only in the past
decade have scientists from disparate disciplines come to
the stunning realization that the study of synchrony could
revolutionize our understanding of everything from the origin
of life to certain types of human behaviour.
At once elegant and riveting, SYNC
tells the story of the dawn of a new science. As one of
its pioneers, Steven Strogatz, a leading mathematician in
the fields of chaos and complexity theory, explains how
enormous systems can synchronize themselves, from the electrons
in a superconductor to the pacemaker cells in our hearts.
He shows that although these phenomena might seem unrelated
on the surface, at a deeper level there is a connection,
forged by the unifying power of mathematics.
Along with vivid explanations of cutting-edge
theory, Strogatz provides an intimate and highly personal
narrative filled with often humorous anecdotes about some
of the visionary thinkers of our time. He also describes
the startling applications of this new knowledge, such as
the harnessing of synchronized electrons to create the world's
most sensitive detectors, able to locate oil buried underground
and to pinpoint diseased tissues associated with epilepsy
and heart arrhythmias.
From life's little curiosities to the grandest
unsolved mysteries of science, SYNC explores such
questions as:
- Why traffic jams can occur even when
there's no accident or other apparent cause
- Why women roommates sometimes find that
their menstrual periods occur in sync
- What caused hundreds of Japanese children
to fall into seizures while watching an episode of Pokemon
- What triggers riots, fads, and mass hysteria
- How synchrony in the solar system may
have been responsible for the extinction of the dinosaurs
- How consciousness arises from the interplay
of millions of mindless brain cells
A tour de force of science and prose, SYNC
reveals the hidden but beautiful order that governs the
rhythms of nature and the rhythms of ourselves.
Steven Strogatz received his doctorate
from Harvard University and served on the faculties of Harvard
and MIT before becoming a professor of applied mathematics
at Cornell University in 1994. Widely recognized for his
groundbreaking discoveries in chaos and complexity theory,
he has received numerous awards throughout his career, including
MIT's highest teaching prize and a Presidential Young Investigator
Award from the White House. He lives in Ithaca, New York,
with his wife, Carole, and their two daughters, Leah and
Joanna.
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