Almost all real systems are nonlinear. For a nonlinear system the superposition principle breaks down: The system's response is not proportional to the stimulus it receives; the whole is more than the sum of its parts. The three parts of this book contains the basics of nonlinear science, with applications in physics. Part I contains an overview of fractals, chaos, solitons, pattern formation, cellular automata and complex systems. In Part II, 14 reviews and essays by pioneers, as well as 10 research articles are reprinted. Part III collects 17 students projects, with computer algorithms for simulation models included.The book can be used for self-study, as a textbook for a one-semester course, or as supplement to other courses in linear or nonlinear systems. The reader should have some knowledge in introductory college physics. No mathematics beyond calculus and no computer literacy are assumed.
The didactical level of exposition, together with many astonishing images and animations, accompanied by the related simple computer programming codes (in Python and POV-Ray languages) make this book an extremely and unique useful tool to test the power of algorithmic information in generating ordered structure models (2D and 3D) like regular geometric shapes, complex shapes like fractals and cellular automata, and biological systems as the organs of a living body. Informational biologists besides mathematicians and physicists of complexity may learn to test their own capabilities in programming and modelling ordered structures starting from random initial conditions at different scale of each system: from elementary particles, to biological systems, to galaxies and the whole universe. Moreover the philosophical comments comparing some aspects of modern information theory to the Aristotelian notion of 'form are very appealing also for the epistemologist and the philosopher involved in complexity matters.
All earnest and honest human quests for knowledge are efforts to understand Nature, which includes both human and nonhuman systems, the objects of study in science. Thus, broadly speaking, all these quests are in the science domain. The methods and tools used may be different; for example, the literary people use mainly their bodily sensors and their brain as the information processor, while natural scientists may use, in addition, measuring instruments and computers. Yet, all these activities could be viewed in a unified perspective — they are scientific developments at varying stages of maturity and have a lot to learn from each other.That “everything in Nature is part of science” was well recognized by Aristotle, da Vinci and many others. Yet, it is only recently, with the advent of modern science and experiences gathered in the study of statistical physics, complex systems and other disciplines, that we know how the human-related disciplines can be studied scientifically.Science Matters is about all human-dependent knowledge, wherein humans (the material system of Homo sapiens) are studied scientifically from the perspective of complex systems. It includes all the topics covered in the humanities and social sciences. Containing contributions from knowledgeable humanists, social scientists and physicists, the book is intended for those — from artists to scientists — who are curious about the world and are interested in understanding it with a unified perspective.
Scimat (science of human) is a new multidiscipline proposed by Lui Lam in 2007. Scimat treats all studies on human as a unified enterprise. In terms of content, Scimat = Humanities + Social Science + Medical Science. Scimat advocates the use of humanities-science synthesis in understanding humans, and collaboration between the humanists and natural scientists. The ultimate aim of Scimat is to better humanity by bettering the humanities.It has done so in the study of history, art, philosophy, and science, giving rise to some interesting and important results such as the appearance of a new discipline called Histophysics (physics of history), a new interpretation of art's origin and nature, a better understanding of the differences between the philosophies of the West and East, and a rigorous definition of science.Scimat Anthology collects 27 original articles in the humanities, published or unpublished from 2000 to 2024, with 26 by the founder of Scimat, ending with an in-depth analysis of Stephen Hawking and his legacy.Readership ranges from high school students and laypeople to professors of all disciplines, who are interested in what the humanities and science are about, as well as new ideas in bridging them.
There is a lot of confusion and misconception concerning science. The nature and contents of science is an unsettled problem. For example, Thales of 2,600 years ago is recognized as the father of science but the word science was introduced only in the 14th century; the definition of science is often avoided in books about philosophy of science. This book aims to clear up all these confusions and present new developments in the philosophy, history, sociology and communication of science. It also aims to showcase the achievement of China's top scholars in these areas. The 18 chapters, divided into five parts, are written by prominent scholars including the Nobel laureate Robin Warren, sociologist Harry Collins, and physicist-turned-historian Dietrich Stauffer. Contents: Preface: About Science 1: Basics OCo Knowledge, Nature, Science and Scimat (Lui Lam); About Science 2: Philosophy, History, Sociology and Communication (Lui Lam); Philosophy of Science: Towards a Phenomenological Philosophy of Science (Guo-Sheng Wu); The Predicament of Scientific Culture in Ancient China (Hong-Sheng Wang); What Do Scientists Know! (Nigel Sanitt); How to Deal with the Whole: Two Kinds of Holism in Methodology (Jin-Yang Liu); History of Science: Helicobactor: The Ease and Difficulty of a New Discovery (Robin Warren); Science in Victorian Era: New Observations on Two Old Theses (Dun Liu); Medical Studies in Portugal Around 1911 (Maria Burguete); The Founding of the International Liquid Crystal Society (Lui Lam); Sociology of Science: Three Waves in Science Studies (Harry Collins); Solitons and Revolution in China: 1978OCo1983 (Lui Lam); Scientific Culture in Contemporary China (Bing Liu and Mei-Fang Zhang); Communication of Science: Science Communication: A History and Review (Peter Broks); Popular-Science Writings in Early Modern China (Lin Yin); Other Science Matters: Understanding Art Through Science: From Socrates to the Contextual Brain (Kajsa Berg); Spy Video Games After 9/11: Narrative and Pleasure (Ting-Ting Wang); Statistical Physics for Humanities: A Tutorial (Dietrich Stauffer). Readership: Researchers and laypeople interested in science."
This book treats arts as part of science, from the unified perspective of Science Matters. It contains 17 chapters, with 18 contributors who are prominent humanists, professional artists, or scientists. It consists of three parts: Part I: Philosophy and History of Arts; Part II: Arts in Action; Part III: Understanding Arts. The book is aimed at both research scholars and laypeople, and is unique in two important aspects. It is probably the first and only book that academic professionals and practicing artists contribute to the same book, as equals, on the common theme of creating and understanding arts. (Artists here include Cristina Leiria whose huge Kun Iam (Goddess of Mercy) sculpture is an important landmark in Macau, and the famous movie director, Hark Tsui, who is publishing his first ever article on movie-making). Perhaps more importantly, a new understanding of the origin and nature of arts is offered for the first time, which is more convincing than all the other hypotheses put forth in the last two thousand years.
The International Symposium on Frontiers of Science was held to celebrate the 80th birthday of Chen Ning Yang, one of the great physicists of the 20th century and arguably the most-admired living scientist in China today. Many of the world's great scientists — including sixteen Nobel laureates, Fields medallists and Wolf Prize winners — converged on Beijing from all corners of the globe to pay tribute to Professor Yang.The Symposium was organized by Tsinghua University, with which Professor Yang has had a lifelong relationship. In 1997, he helped to found the Center for Advanced Study at Tsinghua, was appointed to the university's faculty, and has since devoted his energy to the growth of the Center.This unique and invaluable birthday volume is a collection of the presentations made at the Symposium, including fifteen plenary talks, seven of which are by Nobel laureates. It covers a wide range of topics and mirrors Professor Yang's research and intellectual interests. The range of fields encompasses high-energy, condensed-matter, mathematical, applied, bio-, astro-, atomic and quantum physics. Also included are talks given at the birthday banquet.About C N YangBorn in 1922 in Anwhei, China, C N Yang was brought up in the academic atmosphere of Tsinghua University in Beijing, where his father was a professor of mathematics. He received his college education at the National Southwest Associated University in Kunming, China, and completed his BSc there in 1942. His MSc was received in 1944 from Tsinghua University. He entered the University of Chicago in 1946, where he came under the strong influence of Prof E Fermi. After receiving his PhD in 1948, Prof Yang served for a year at the University of Chicago as an instructor. Since 1949 he has been associated with the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, where he became a professor in 1955.Prof Yang has worked on various subjects in physics, but is mainly interested in statistical mechanics and symmetry principles. He is a prolific author, his numerous articles appearing in the Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society, The Physical Review, Reviews of Modern Physics and the Chinese Journal of Physics.Prof Yang won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1957, jointly with T-D Lee. He has been elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society and of Academia Sinica.
The SAGE Encyclopedia of Theory is a landmark work that examines theory in general and the broad split between the "hard" and "soft" sciences, a split that is being re-examined as approaches to scientific questions become increasingly multidisciplinary.
The humanities (and social science) are the disciplines that study human, which are essential in helping us to understand ourselves and others and the world around us. Since science is the study of everything in the universe and human is a material system consisting of the same atoms that make up other nonhuman systems, humanities are part of science. Thus, understanding correctly what science is about will be helpful in making progress in the humanities. To patch up the gap between the 'two cultures' derived from these two branches of knowledge, the best way is to recognize their common root in science and work through humanities-science synthesis, as advocated by Scimat, the new multidiscipline proposed by the author in 2007. Furthermore, raising the scientific level of the humanities, which include decision making, will help to make the world better.Humanities, Science, Scimat details these issues, consisting of three parts. Part I is about Scimat and the new humanities (history, philosophy, art). Part II is on the origin and nature of science, new insights on the life and works of selected scientists, some thoughts on science communication/popularization, and case examples of science innovation — all from the Scimat perspective. While Parts I and II are short essays with no references (with rare exceptions), Part III are longer articles with full references that supplement Parts I and II. Each essay/article starts with a color picture. They are all easy to read — nothing technical.In short, this book contains the basic knowledge about the humanities and science that everyone should know. The aimed readership is anyone, from high school students and laypeople to the professors, who are interested in what the humanities and science are about, and how we can work together to achieve a better humanity.
This textbook provides an introduction to the new science of nonlinear physics for advanced undergraduates, beginning graduate students, and researchers entering the field. The chapters, by pioneers and experts in the field, share a unified perspective. Nonlinear science developed out of the increasing ability to investigate and analyze systems for which effects are not simply linear functions of their causes; it is associated with such well-known code words as chaos, fractals, pattern formation, solitons, cellular automata, and complex systems. Nonlinear phenomena are important in many fields, including dynamical systems, fluid dynamics, materials science, statistical physics, and paritcel physics. The general principles developed in this text are applicable in a wide variety of fields in the natural and social sciences. The book will thus be of interest not only to physicists, but also to engineers, chemists, geologists, biologists, economists, and others interested in nonlinear phenomena. Examples and exercises complement the text, and extensive references provide a guide to research in the field.
