A new kind of science /
Stephen Wolfram.
- xiv, 1197 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm
Includes bibliographical references (pages 849-1197) and index.
The Key Ideas of A New Kind of Science -- The Foundations for a New Kind of Science -- The Crucial Experiment -- The World of Simple Programs -- Systems Based on Numbers -- Two Dimensions and Beyond -- Starting from Randomness -- Mechanisms in Programs and Nature -- Implications for Everyday Systems -- Fundamental Physics -- Processes of Perception and Analysis -- The Notion of Computation -- The Principle of Computational Equivalence. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12.
This work presents a series of dramatic discoveries never before made public. Starting from a collection of simple computer experiments---illustrated in the book by striking computer graphics---Wolfram shows how their unexpected results force a whole new way of looking at the operation of our universe. Wolfram uses his approach to tackle a remarkable array of fundamental problems in science: from the origin of the Second Law of thermodynamics, to the development of complexity in biology, the computational limitations of mathematics, the possibility of a truly fundamental theory of physics, and the interplay between free will and determinism.