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Ubiquity: The New Science That is Changing the World (Paperback)

by Mark Buchanan (Author) "It was 11 a.m. on a fine summer morning in Sarajevo, 28 June 1914, when the driver of an automobile carrying two passengers made a..." (more)
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Paperback: 240 pages
  • Publisher: Phoenix; New edition edition (6 Dec 2001)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0753812975
  • ISBN-13: 978-0753812976
  • Product Dimensions: 21.4 x 14.4 x 3.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 456,674 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review

First came James Gleick's Chaos, then Roger Lewin's Complexity, and now we have Mark Buchanan's fascinating new book Ubiquity. One of the most interesting discoveries made by complexity theorists is that some systems seem to exhibit rather curious but mathematically similar behaviours when poised in what has come to be known as the "critical state". A pile of sand in the moments before an avalanche occurs somewhere on its surface seems to be in such a state and the magnitudes of avalanches measured over a period of time can be described using a mathematical equation called a power function. A power function description in this particular context implies that the timing and magnitude of avalanches on the surface of the sand pile will be utterly unpredictable.

This key insight into the behaviour of certain types of system forms the basis for the rest of the book. What if, for instance, the Earth's crust is in something approximating a critical state and earthquakes timings and magnitudes similar in distribution to avalanches on a sand pile? This would imply that earthquake prediction is virtually impossible, an important conclusion given that huge amounts of money continue to be spent in numerous countries around the world for this very purpose.

And what if extinction in the fossil record, stock market fluctuations or tumultuous events in human history are also explicable in terms of critical state theory? If so, then we may be on the verge of "a new science of history". Are critical state theorists any nearer now to anything approaching a unification of knowledge? The jury is still out, but don't wait for a verdict that may be a long time coming--read the provocative Ubiquity and judge for yourself. --Chris Lavers --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description

Scientists have recently discovered a new law of nature. Its footprints are virtually everywhere - in the spread of forest fires, mass extinctions, traffic jams, earthquakes, stock-market fluctuations, the rise and fall of nations, and even trends in fashion, music and art. Wherever we look, the world is modelled on a simple template: like a steep pile of sand, it is poised on the brink of instability, with avalanches - in events, ideas or whatever - following a universal pattern of change. This remarkable discovery heralds what Mark Buchanan calls the new science of 'ubiquity', a science whose secret lies in the stuff of the everyday world. Combining literary flair with scientific rigour, this book documents the coming revolution by telling the story of the researchers' exploration of the law, their ingenious work and unexpected insights. Mark Buchanan reveals how the principle of ubiquity will help us to manage, control and predict the future. This book, the world's first on the topic, will change how we think about the world and our place in it.
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It was 11 a.m. on a fine summer morning in Sarajevo, 28 June 1914, when the driver of an automobile carrying two passengers made a wrong turn. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews

14 Reviews
5 star:
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4 star:
 (8)
3 star:
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Average Customer Review
4.0 out of 5 stars (14 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Historical physics, 8 Sep 2004
This is a book from an author with a Ph.D. in physics, which is fascinating by history and can cite Albert Camus. The book is both about physics and history, much as Steven Jay Gould's Wonderful Life is about biology and history. You can draw many similarities between the two books, not the least the fact that Gould and Buchanan are both good writers.
Buchanan does a good job in transmitting the flavour of theoretical physics in the making. From his book you can learn a lot about the way physicists looks for new problems and try to solve them: making simple (even crude) models of reality, trying to guess the relevant variables, establishing the right connections to experimental data. The critical state is a very suggestive concept, but if you want to do physics you must be very careful to avoid speculation and stick to mathematical generalisation and the effort to make testable predictions.
The main prediction about self-organised criticality is that it is unpredictable. Physicists can point to some very nice regularity in, say, the distribution of earthquakes or wildfires: but nobody can tell where and where the next big earthquake will strike. Why? Because the earth crust is in a critical state, and in such a system "history matters". Every single event in the crust is "froze" in a sequence of events and you should know all of them to tell if a particular site will be struck by a major earthquake or not. The methods of physics show their own limit and give way to historical narrative.
This is really a beautiful book. If you have read some half-mystical book on cosmology or elementary particles, and believe that physics is about metaphysics, get it and come back to quite interesting Earth.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Unputdownable - a gem of a book, 21 May 2001
By A Customer
This review is from: Ubiquity: The Science of History or Why the World is Simpler than we Think (Hardcover)
I'm well into the whole Complexity field - I think its a fascinating area of study that we've only just scraped the surface of. For those of you who found Roger Lewin's Complexity interesting but less than satisfying, or Stuart Kauffman's At Home in the Universe a bit too oriented to biology, this book offers a great introduction to the field. It covers a diverse number of subjects from earthquakes, financial markets, breakthroughs in science, wars and human interaction but without having to be an expert in any of them. While some may struggle with the lack of physics - this is the whole point. Scrape away all the clutter and look at the underlying patterns, and their drivers. Enlightening to say the least.

If you liked this then try any of Stuart Kauffman's books for a more indepth treatment, Duncan Watt's Small Worlds if you like graphy theory.

I agree that it does become a little repeatative and you can sense that the author thinks so too. However, does this not illustrate just how ubiquitous the underlying pattern is?

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars From Magnets to Sand Castles, 24 April 2001
By A Customer
This review is from: Ubiquity: The Science of History or Why the World is Simpler than we Think (Hardcover)
I found this book very enlightening. The underlying simplicity of the explaination of the dynamics of extremely complex structures is very powerful, and attractive. It does stimulate thinking about the application to everyday experiences.

If it has one fault, it is that after the 7th example, it becomes too repeatative, the reader knows what the conclusion will be without reading on. I'm afraid I couldn't finish it for that reason. However, I am glad I read as much as I did.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars recommendable
This book is definitely worth a read. A true eye opener.
5 stars is reserved for the genius books (when I find them) ;)
Published 21 months ago by Jon Loldrup

4.0 out of 5 stars Ubiquity is Everywhere



Yes, ubiquity is in the dictionary and it is something that is ever present and has the ability to be in many places at the same time. Read more
Published on 22 Aug 2007 by N. J. Freedman

4.0 out of 5 stars lacks a bit of punch at the end...
Very good book, liked the other one too (ubiquity) but I felt it lacked a bit of punch at the end. The ideas and theories put forward with excellent supporting examples seemed to... Read more
Published on 26 Jan 2007 by Mr. Alexander W. Lepingwell

4.0 out of 5 stars Ubiquity Versus Generalization
Firstly, it is important that I qualify my comments by stating that I read this book as a layperson. Read more
Published on 17 Dec 2002 by taking a rest

5.0 out of 5 stars The Physics of History
CERTAIN complicated systems, under certain circumstances, have been discovered to behave in mathematically simple, similar ways. Read more
Published on 10 Jun 2001

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating and Thought-Provoking Ideas!
Definitely a fascinating read. Well worth it! The writer claims that we can all learn something about what to expect in the future -- even if this means expecting to be surprised... Read more
Published on 20 Feb 2001

1.0 out of 5 stars Bad Physics
Physics may be the key to explaining everthing, but this book shows clearly that a physicist can't. The idea is compelling, but the ground work not. Read more
Published on 2 Feb 2001

4.0 out of 5 stars Very interesting and very clear
This was a very interesting read. I found it very clear, persuasive, and intriguing. My only quibbles are that I thought it went on a bit (it became a little repetitive towards... Read more
Published on 1 Feb 2001

5.0 out of 5 stars Random pick of topics
I have read this book with great enthusiasm, and want to offer the reader an unstructured list of topics I found intriguing. Read more
Published on 17 Dec 2000 by bspa@gmx.de

4.0 out of 5 stars Worthwhile Reading
I found "Ubiquity" to be an enjoyable and interesting science book.The ideas introduced are relativley new and have not been covered a great deal in non-academic... Read more
Published on 24 Nov 2000

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