Bücher von Michael C. Mackey

The first edition of this book was originally published in 1985 under the ti- tle "e;Probabilistic Properties of Deterministic Systems. "e; In the intervening years, interest in so-called "e;chaotic"e; systems has continued unabated but with a more thoughtful and sober eye toward applications, as befits a ma- turing field. This interest in the serious usage of the concepts and techniques of nonlinear dynamics by applied scientists has probably been spurred more by the availability of inexpensive computers than by any other factor. Thus, computer experiments have been prominent, suggesting the wealth of phe- nomena that may be resident in nonlinear systems. In particular, they allow one to observe the interdependence between the deterministic and probabilistic properties of these systems such as the existence of invariant measures and densities, statistical stability and periodicity, the influence of stochastic perturbations, the formation of attractors, and many others. The aim of the book, and especially of this second edition, is to present recent theoretical methods which allow one to study these effects. We have taken the opportunity in this second edition to not only correct the errors of the first edition, but also to add substantially new material in five sections and a new chapter.

Je tiens impossible de connaitre les parties sans connaitre le tout, non plus que de connaitre le tout sans connaitre particulierement les parties -Pascal The eterna[ mystery of the world is its comprehensibility -Einstein This book deals with the application of mathematical tools to the study of physiological systems. It is directed toward an audience of physiologists, physicians, physicists, kinesiologists, psychologists, engineers, mathemati- cians, and others interested in finding out more about the complexities and subtleties of rhythmic physiological processes from a theoretical per- spective. We have attempted to give a broad view of the underlying notions behind the dynamics of physiological rhythms, sometimes from a theoretical perspective and sometimes from the perspective of the experimentalist. This book can be used in a variety of ways, ranging from a more tra- ditional approach such as a textbook in a biomathematics course (at either the advanced undergraduate or graduate level) to a research re- source in which someone interested in a particular problem might look at the corresponding discussion here to guide their own thinking. We hope that researchers at all levels will find inspiration from the way we have dealt with particular research problems to tackle completely new areas of investigation, or even approach these in totally new ways.

Though the authors have no definitive solution to the problem, they offer this contribution in an attempt to define the problem as they see it, and to sketch out several obvious attempts that have been suggested to solve the problem and which seem to have failed.

The Second Law of Thermodynamics has been called the most important law of nature: It is the law that gives a direction to processes that is not inherent in the laws of motion, that says the state of the universe is driven to thermal equilibrium.

The first edition of this book was originally published in 1985 under the ti tle "Probabilistic Properties of Deterministic Systems. We have taken the opportunity in this second edition to not only correct the errors of the first edition, but also to add substantially new material in five sections and a new chapter.