Michael Strevens

Bigger than Chaos
Understanding Complexity through Probability

Many complex systems--from immensely complicated ecosystems to minute assemblages of molecules--surprise us with their simple behavior. Consider, for instance, the snowflake, in which a great number of water molecules arrange themselves in patterns with six-way symmetry. How is it that molecules moving seemingly at random become organized according to the simple, six-fold rule? How do the comings, goings, meetings, and eatings of individual animals add up to the simple dynamics of ecosystem populations? More generally, how does complex and seemingly capricious microbehavior generate stable, predictable macrobehavior?

In this book, Michael Strevens aims to explain how simplicity can coexist with, indeed be caused by, the tangled interconnections between a complex system's many parts. At the center of Strevens's explanation is the notion of probability and, more particularly, probabilistic independence. By examining the foundations of statistical reasoning about complex systems such as gases, ecosystems, and certain social systems, Strevens provides an understanding of how simplicity emerges from complexity. Along the way, he draws lessons concerning the low-level explanation of high-level phenomena and the basis for introducing probabilistic concepts into physical theory.

39 line illustrations
432 pages
Paperback edition
September 2006
ISBN 0-674-02259-9

George E. P. Box, Norman R. Draper

Response Surfaces, Mixtures, and Ridge Analyses, 2nd Edition

ISBN: 978-0-470-05357-7
Hardcover
880 pages
March 2007

View Previous Edition of This Title

The authority on building empirical models and the fitting of such surfaces to data?completely updated and revised

Revising and updating a volume that represents the essential source on building empirical models, George Box and Norman Draper?renowned authorities in this field?continue to set the standard with the Second Edition of Response Surfaces, Mixtures, and Ridge Analyses, providing timely new techniques, new exercises, and expanded material.

A comprehensive introduction to building empirical models, this book presents the general philosophy and computational details of a number of important topics, including factorial designs at two levels; fitting first and second-order models; adequacy of estimation and the use of transformation; and occurrence and elucidation of ridge systems.

Substantially rewritten, the Second Edition reflects the emergence of ridge analysis of second-order response surfaces as a very practical tool that can be easily applied in a variety of circumstances. This unique, fully developed coverage of ridge analysis?a technique for exploring quadratic response surfaces including surfaces in the space of mixture ingredients and/or subject to linear restrictions?includes MINITABR routines for performing the calculations for any number of dimensions.

Many additional figures are included in the new edition, and new exercises (many based on data from published papers) offer insight into the methods used. The exercises and their solutions provide a variety of supplementary examples of response surface use, forming an extremely important component of the text.

Response Surfaces, Mixtures, and Ridge Analyses, Second Edition presents material in a logical and understandable arrangement and includes six new chapters covering an up-to-date presentation of standard ridge analysis (without restrictions); design and analysis of mixtures experiments; ridge analysis methods when there are linear restrictions in the experimental space including the mixtures experiments case, with or without further linear restrictions; and canonical reduction of second-order response surfaces in the foregoing general case.

Additional features in the new edition include:

New exercises with worked answers added throughout
An extensive revision of Chapter 5: Blocking and Fractionating 2k Designs
Additional discussion on the projection of two-level designs into lower dimensional spaces
This is an ideal reference for researchers as well as a primary text for Response Surface Methodology graduate-level courses and a supplementary text for Design of Experiments courses at the upper-undergraduate and beginning-graduate levels.

Paul L. Shick

Topology: Point-Set and Geometric

ISBN: 978-0-470-09605-5
Hardcover
296 pages
February 2007

This text covers the essentials of point-set topology in a relatively terse presentation, with lots of examples and motivation along the way. Along with the standard point-set topology topics (connected spaces, compact spaces, separation axioms, and metric spaces), the author includes path-connectedness, and a chapter on constructing spaces from other spaces (including products, quotients, etc.). The text culminates in to two main chapters, each independent of the other: 1) The Classification Theorem for Compact, Connected Surfaces and 2) Fundamental Groups and Covering Spaces, with Applications giving the reader the choice of which subject best suits them.

Contents

Foreword.
Acknowledgments.
1. Introduction: Intuitive Topology.
2. Background on Sets and Functions.
3. Topological Spaces.
4. More on Open and Closed Sets and Continuous Functions.
5. New Spaces from Old.
6. Connected Spaces.
7. Compact Spaces.
8. Separation Axioms.
9. Metric Spaces.
10. The Classification of Surfaces.
11. Fundamental Groups and Covering Spaces.
References.
Index.

Fernando Villegas

Experimental Number Theory

(Hardback)
ISBN-10: 0-19-852822-1
ISBN-13: 978-0-19-852822-7
Paperback 9780199227303

Estimated publication date: May 2007
216 pages, 234x156 mm
Series: Oxford Graduate Texts in Mathematics number 13

Description

Covers a broad spectrum of basic computational issues
Numerous GP programming examples given
End of chapter exercises reinforce the text
Remarks and solutions are provided for selected exercises in the final chapter

This graduate text, based on years of teaching experience, is intended for first or second year graduate students in pure mathematics. The main goal of the text is to show how the computer can be used as a tool for research in number theory through numerical experimentation. The book contains many examples of experiments in binary quadratic forms, zeta functions of varieties over finite fields, elementary class field theory, elliptic units, modular forms, along with exercises and selected solutions. Sample programs are written in GP, the scripting language for the computational package PARI, and are available for download from the author's website.

Readership: Graduates in pure mathematics, particularly in number theory.

Contents
Preface
1. Basic examples
2. Reciprocity
3. Positive definite binary quadratic forms
4. Sequences
5. Combinatorics
6. p-adic numbers
7. Polynomials
8. Remarks on selected exercises
References
Index