Over the past two decades no field of scientific inquiry has had a more striking impact across a wide array of disciplinesfrom biology to physics computing to meteorologythan that known as chaos and complexity the study of complex systems. Now astrophysicist John Gribbin draws on his expertise to explore in prose that communicates not only the wonder but the substance of cuttingedge science the principles behind chaos and complexity. He reveals the remarkable ways these two revolutionary theories have been applied over the last twenty years to explain all sorts of phenomenafrom weather patterns to mass extinctions. Grounding these paradigmshifting ideas in their historical context Gribbin also traces their development from Newton to Darwin to Lorenz Prigogine and Lovelock demonstrating howfar from overturning all that has gone beforechaos and complexity are the triumphant extensions of simple scientific laws. Ultimately Gribbin illustrates how chaos and complexity permeate the universe on every scale governing the evolution of life and galaxies alike. show more