The Primacy of Doubt - Tim Palmer

The Primacy of Doubt

Tim Palmer

出版时间

2022-10-18

ISBN

9780192843593

评分

★★★★★
书籍介绍

A bold, visionary, and mind-bending exploration of how the geometry of chaos can explain our uncertain world - from weather and pandemics to quantum physics and free will

Covering a breathtaking range of topics - from climate change to the foundations of quantum physics, from economic modelling to conflict prediction, from free will to consciousness and spirituality - The Primacy of Doubt takes us on a unique journey through the science of uncertainty. A key theme that unifies these seemingly unconnected topics is the geometry of chaos: the beautiful and profound fractal structures that lie at the heart of much of modern mathematics. Royal Society Research Professor Tim Palmer shows us how the geometry of chaos not only provides the means to predict the world around us, it suggests new insights into some of the most astonishing aspects of our universe and ourselves. This important and timely book helps the reader makes sense of uncertainty in a rapidly changing world.

Tim Palmer is a Royal Society Research Professor in the Department of Physics at the University of Oxford. Following a PhD in general relativity theory, he spent much of his career working on the predictability and dynamics of weather and climate, developing probabilistic ensemble prediction systems across a range of weather and climate timescales. He also researches the founda...

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目录
Preface
1:The Primacy of Doubt – From Two Perspectives
Part I: The Science of Uncertainty and the Geometry of Chaos
2:Chaos, Chaos Everywhere
3:The Geometry of Chaos

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用户评论
万维刚精英日课5解读 为什么你应该关心这本书?因为帕尔默这个洞见把理科生喜欢的「混沌」「分形」、量子力学这些东西和文科生喜欢的「人的意识」「自由意志」乃至经济学和社会系统给联系在了一起。这里面有智识的乐趣,更有世界观的升级。也许你会在未来的日子里经常想到这些思想。 这本书的终极主题是,应该如何理解这个,也许是确定但是不可预测的、也许本来就是不确定的世界。 我把书名简单翻译成《首要怀疑》,实际上它应该叫《怀疑的首要地位》,出自一位传记作家描写物理学家费曼的一句话—— 「他相信怀疑的首要地位:我们对世界的认识本质上就应该是怀疑的,怀疑不是我们认知能力的一个污点,而是我们认知的本质。」
首要怀疑:从量子物理学到气候变化,不确定性科学如何帮助我们理解我们的混乱世界 1.三个星体的系统,它们的轨道没有周期性。两体的简单局面是罕见的,N>2 才是正常的;而正常的局面不是周期性的,它通往混乱。 2.「演化结果对初始值有非常敏感的依赖」的现象,叫做「混沌」。 3.混沌系统其实无处不在:天气是这样的,股市是这样的,人口是这样的,世界本身也是这样的。
第二章,第五章还不错,能给4分。其他感觉就比较普通,导致把整本书的信息密度拉低。
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