The Recursive Universe: Cosmic Complexity and the Limits of Scientific Knowledge

作者: WIlliam Poundstone 作者

出版社: Dover Publications

出版时间: 2013-06

ISBN: 048649098X 或 9780486490984

定价: 132.00

装帧: 平装

开本: 其他

页数: 254页

正文语种: 英语

丛书: Dover Books on Science

分类: 外文古旧书>英文书>文学

2 张插图图片

2人买过

No winners, no losers, and no end — the Game of Life, also known simply as Life, is no ordinary computer game. Created by British mathematician John Horton Conway in 1970, Life debuted in Scientific American, where it was hailed as the key to a new area of mathematical research, the field of cellular automata. Less of a game than a demonstration of logical possibilities, Life is based on simple rules and produces patterns of light and dark on computer screens that reflect the unpredictability, complexity, and beauty of the universe.
This fascinating popular science journey explores Life's relationship to concepts in information theory, explaining the application of natural law to random systems and demonstrating the necessity of limits. Other topics include the paradox of complexity, Maxwell's demon, Big Bang theory, and much more. Written in the 1980s by a bestselling author, the book remains up to date in its treatment of timeless aspects of physics, including the ways in which complex forms and behavior governed by simple laws can appear to arise spontaneously under random conditions. Acknowledgements 1. Complexity and Simplicity 2. The Life Universe 3. Maxwell's Demon 4. Gliders and Spaceships 5. Information and Structure 6. Unlimited Growth 7. Physics as a recursion 8. Recursive Games 9. Big Bang and Heat Death 10. Random Fields 11. Von Neumann and Self-Reproducinmg Machines 12. Self-Reproducing Life Patterns 13. The Recursive Universe Afterword to the Dover Edition Bibliography Index
内容简介:
No winners, no losers, and no end — the Game of Life, also known simply as Life, is no ordinary computer game. Created by British mathematician John Horton Conway in 1970, Life debuted in Scientific American, where it was hailed as the key to a new area of mathematical research, the field of cellular automata. Less of a game than a demonstration of logical possibilities, Life is based on simple rules and produces patterns of light and dark on computer screens that reflect the unpredictability, complexity, and beauty of the universe.
This fascinating popular science journey explores Life's relationship to concepts in information theory, explaining the application of natural law to random systems and demonstrating the necessity of limits. Other topics include the paradox of complexity, Maxwell's demon, Big Bang theory, and much more. Written in the 1980s by a bestselling author, the book remains up to date in its treatment of timeless aspects of physics, including the ways in which complex forms and behavior governed by simple laws can appear to arise spontaneously under random conditions.
目录:
Acknowledgements 1. Complexity and Simplicity 2. The Life Universe 3. Maxwell's Demon 4. Gliders and Spaceships 5. Information and Structure 6. Unlimited Growth 7. Physics as a recursion 8. Recursive Games 9. Big Bang and Heat Death 10. Random Fields 11. Von Neumann and Self-Reproducinmg Machines 12. Self-Reproducing Life Patterns 13. The Recursive Universe Afterword to the Dover Edition Bibliography Index

查看详情

The Recursive Universe: Cosmic Complexity and the Limits of Scientific Knowledge

内容简介:

目录: