A First Course in Chaotic Dynamical Systems: Theory and Experiment

Robert L. Devaney, Peter B. Siegel, A. John Mallinckrodt, and Susan McKay

Citation: Computers in Physics 7, 416 (1993); doi: 10.1063/1.4823195

View online: https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4823195
View Table of Contents: https://aip.scitation.org/toc/cip/7/4
Published by the American Institute of Physics

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 BOOKS

"selected" exercises (about one third known methods for finding roots of book. Many of these errors consist
of them). nonlinear equations are briefly of omitted or added exponents or
The appendices containing basic explained. The coUection of standard subscripts, which may prove confus-
mathematical procedures have been statistical tables and graphs is the ing for the inexperienced reader.
extended to include additional mate- same as in the first edition. An added As with the first edition, this
rial on such numerical methods of appendix contains advice about the small book is not a rigorous exposi-
analysis as polynomial integration, drawing of graphs and histograms, tion of all aspects of data reduction
Lagrange's interpolation method, which should be useful to beginning and error analysis, but it should fill
Newton's method of interpolation students. the need for a concise, modern intro-
by divided differences, and a discus- Several misprints were noticed duction to a number of useful data-
sion of cubic splines. Several well- during a casual reading of the revised analysis techniques.

AFirst Course in Chaotic strongest points is the way in which it is extended into the complex plane.
connects a variety of different prop- The last four chapters (15 to 18) are
Dynamical Systems: Theory erties of nonlinear systems. Using devoted to this extension. Following
and Experiment the family of iterative quadratic a review of complex functions and
maps, the author takes the reader their derivatives, Devaney uses the
Robert L. Devaney around the complex plane to intro- complex quadratic map to analyze
duce period doubling, chaos, and and explore various Julia sets. For
Addison-Wesley Publishing Co., Cantor, Julia, and Mandelbrot sets. the reader who is not interested in
Reading, MA, 1992; The first eight chapters deal with theorems and corollaries, Devaney
ISBN 0-201-55406-2, the period-doubling route to chaos. also offers computer algorithms to
302 pp., hardcover, $45.25. Before starting the main part of the generate an assortment of intricate
book, I would recommend reading Julia sets. Chapter 17 is devoted
Reviewed by Peter B. Siegel
the introductory chapter and entirely to the Mandelbrot set, start-
Appendix A, which is entitled ing with a discussion of the role of
"Mathematical Preliminaries." The the critical point. The author
appendix will refresh one's memory explores the different bulbs of the
n recent years courses on nonlin- on functions and sets, and the first
I ear dynamics have been making
their way into the undergraduate cur-
chapter gives an excellent overview
of the book. Chapters 2 to 4 are ele-
set, using computer experiments.
The middle chapters of the book
discuss fractals, Newton 's method,
ricula in mathematics, physics, and mentary; Devaney introduces sim- Sarkovskii's theorem, and the impor-
computer science. These courses ple maps to define orbits, seeds, and tant role of the critical orbit. Of par-
require textbooks that will satisfy the fixed points, and he uses the dou- ticular note is the chapter on sym-
needs of a diverse student audience bling function to demonstrate the bolic dynamics, where the shift map,
and guide them through the nonlin- effects of finite precision in compu- a clever function on a digital space, is
ear path of apparently disjoint top- tation. In Chapter 5 we meet our first introduced. Besides being pedagog-
ics, including period-doubling, chaos, theorems about fixed points. The ically interesting, the shift map is
and fractals. One excellent example properties of repelling and attract- related to the quadratic family.
is A First Course in Chaotic Dynam- ing points are illustrated using both Devaney uses it to extract many
ical Systems, by Robert Devaney. graphical and analytic methods. The properties of chaotic systems. Also
This book will suit both students next chapter defines and discusses worth mentioning is the chapter on
who want to see some mathematical the various bifurcation classes. It the subject of chaos, which presents
rigor as well as those who want to leads naturally to the period-dou- a clear and precise definition of a
produce bewildering patterns on the bling route to chaos which concludes chaotic system.
computer screen. However, the with Chapter 8. As a lone textbook, the book
physics professor should be warned Most introductory books use the would best fit a mathematics class.
that the word 'experiment' in the title logistic map to demonstrate the peri- With only one year of calculus, which
means 'computer experiment.' Those od-doubling cascade. This historical is assumed as sufficient background,
who are interested in techniques for approach leads naturally to a calcu- an average student interested in
analyzing experimental data may be lation of the Feigenbaum constant mathematics will be able to follow
disappointed. One of the book ' s from the superstable points. In con- most of the material. The problems
trast, the author uses the quadratic at the end of each chapter give ample
map of the form x 2 + c. One advan- choices for student exercises. The
Peter Siegel is associate professor of physics
at California State Polytechnic University,
tage of this approach is that it leads book would also be excellent as a
Pomona, CA 91768; e-mail: pbsiegel@ naturally to discussions about Julia supplement to a physics course on
csupomona.edu. and Mandelbrot sets when this map nonlinear systems. However, since it

416 COMPUTERS IN PHYSICS, VOL 7, NO.4, JULIAUG 1993

focuses primarily on iterative maps,
another text that concentrates on the
differential equations describing non- Books received
linear physical systems would be an
important companion. The Art of Scientific Computation: A Problem-Oriented Approach,
The book reads very well, and R. Crandall, Springer-Verlag, New York, NY, 1993; ISBN 0-387-97808-9,
offers much more than a simple 672 pp., hardcover, $44.95.
overview of the subject. New quan-
tities are defined clearly, and there Nanotechnology, B.C. Crandall and James Lewis, eds., The MIT Press,
is just the right amount of mathe- Cambridge, MA, 1992; ISBN 0-262-03195-7, 381 pp., hardcover, $39.95.
matical rigor for an introduction to
the material. There are a number of NeXTSTEP: Concepts and Applications, Alex Duong Nghiem, Prentice-
color representations of Julia and Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1993.
Mandelbrot sets, and the book is dot-
Physics Experiments Using PCs: A Guide for Instructors and Students,
ted with pictures and biographies of
H.M. Staudenmaier, Springer-Verlag, New York, NY, 1993; ISBN 0-387-
some of the leading scientists in the
55885-3,320 pp., hardcover, $59.00.
field. For the scientist who wants to
experience a mathematician's ap-
Probability and Statistics in Experimental Physics, Byron P. Roe, Springer-
proach to the subject, this introduc-
Verlag, New York, NY, 1992; ISBN 0-387-97849-6, 208 pp., hardcover,
tory book is ideal. A First Course in
Chaotic Dynamical Systems gives $39.00.
physicists an exposure to the rigor,
A Scientist's and Engineer's Guide to Workstations and Supercomputers,
terminology, and abstractions used
Rubin H. Landau and Paul J. Fink, John Wiley and Sons, New York, NY,
by mathematicians, as well as a
1993; ISBN 0-471-53271-1, 390 pp., softcover, $49.95.
thread with which to tie together the
Mandelbrot set, fractals, and chaos.
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