ISBN: 1579550088 Review by:
Abstract:
A New Kind of Science uses a wide range of easy-to-understand models- mostly cellular automata variants- to explore one key idea: some simple computational models can generate "very complex " behavior, and may describe aspects of the physical and mathematical universe better than traditional mathematical approaches. Wolfram's book has been the subject of much speculation, partly due to its lengthy preparation time (10 years). Since it came out a few months ago, published opinions of the book have ranged from "worthless " to "ground-breaking". As you will glean from points made later, this book is a dicult one to review objectively, for two main reasons: i) the writing style, and ii) the sheer breadth of questions raised. What follows is therefore a personal description of how the book did and did not impress me. On the positive side, Wolfram raises many interesting questions. He species a remarkably diverse range of models related to cellular automata variants. And he explains his ideas simply, with beautiful pictures and a main text which is accessible to any reader with a high-school education who is willing to think a bit. On the negative side, many of the ideas in the book have been discussed elsewhere, so there is
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