Posted on 05/25/2002 2:36:26 PM PDT by KissOfTheSith
Publisher's Summary
Stephen Wolfram's
A New Kind of Science
Dramatic Discoveries from one of the
Worlds Most Respected Scientists
This long-awaited work from one of the world's most respected scientists 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--Stephen 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 origins of apparent randomness in physical systems, to the development of complexity in biology, the ultimate scope and limitations of mathematics, the possibility of a truly fundamental theory of physics, the interplay between free will and determinism, and the character of intelligence in the universe.
Written with exceptional clarity, and illustrated by nearly a thousand original pictures, this seminal book allows scientists and nonscientists alike to participate in what promises to be a major intellectual revolution.
Stephen Wolfram was born in London and educated at Eton, Oxford, and Caltech. He received his Ph.D. in theoretical physics in 1979 at the age of 20, having already made lasting contributions to particle physics and cosmology. In 1981 his work was recognized by a MacArthur award. In the early 1980s he made a series of classic discoveries about systems known as cellular automata, which have yielded many new insights in physics, mathematics, computer science, biology, and other fields. In 1986 he founded Wolfram Research, Inc. and began the creation of Mathematica, now the world's leading software system for technical computing and symbolic programming, and the tool that made A New Kind of Science possible. Over the past decade Wolfram has divided his time between the leadership of his company and his pursuit of basic science.
Published by Wolfram Media, Inc.
ISBN 1-57955-008-8
Hardcover, 1197 pages
This non-fiction book is thick enough to make Atlas Shrugged look like a gothic romance pocket book.
The bulk of this book recounts Wolfram's more than 20 years worth of experiments with cellular automata, and the many implications for real life which he has drawn from his experience.
To read his preface to the book, click here: Just over twenty years ago I made what at first seemed like a small discovery: a computer experiment of mine showed something I did not expect. But the more I investigated, the more I realized that what I had seen was the beginning of a crack in the very foundations of existing science, and a first clue towards a whole new kind of science.
The bulk of the theorizing seems to be centered around what Wolfram terms a "new law of nature," in his The Principle of Computational Equivalence -- which seems to assert that in all of the universe, there are only two kinds of systems, simple systems, and complex systems, and the key is that all complex systems can be viewed as 1) computational systems; and are of exactly the same level of complexity...
I'm not one of those MacArthur Prize Fellows who are officially a world class genius -- Wolfram is -- and I've never been a fellow of Einstein's old home, the Princeton Institute for Advance Studies -- Wolfram was -- but I found this book both interesting and puzzling.
It is interesting because it is SO large that Wolfram has room to really lay out his thinking step by step, with examples from every level of his experiences.
It is puzzling because everything seems to amazingly tame and totally UN-amazing.
Perhaps there is a "new" science here. It certainly is a fun read and a fun book to experiment along with on a home computer.
But I wonder how earth-shaking this book will be. Wolfram seems to believe it will usher in an entirely new paradigm for understanding reallity. Perhaps. Perhaps it is like Clark Kent -- so totally understated that the real, superhero identity is hard to see...
-- Kiss of the Sith
THE CRACKPOT INDEXTo make no mention of the points he earns for refusing to submit the book for peer review out of fear that his colleagues' brains would explode. But I'd buy the book in a heartbeat if he would bundle in the latest release of Mathematica! ;-)A simple method for rating potentially revolutionary contributions to physics.
A -5 point starting credit.
1 point for every statement that is widely agreed on to be false.
2 points for every statement that is clearly vacuous.
3 points for every statement that is logically inconsistent.
5 points for each such statement that is adhered to despite careful correction.
5 points for using a thought experiment that contradicts the results of a widely accepted real experiment.
5 points for each word in all capital letters (except for those with defective keyboards).
5 points for each mention of "Einstien", "Hawkins" or "Feynmann".
10 points for each claim that quantum mechanics is fundamentally misguided (without good evidence).
10 points for pointing out that you have gone to school, as if this were evidence of sanity.
10 points for beginning the description of your theory by saying how long you have been working on it.
10 points for mailing your theory to someone you don't know personally and asking them not to tell anyone else about it, for fear that your ideas will be stolen.
10 points for offering prize money to anyone who proves and/or finds any flaws in your theory.
10 points for each statement along the lines of "I'm not good at math, but my theory is conceptually right, so all I need is for someone to express it in terms of equations".
10 points for arguing that a current well-established theory is "only a theory", as if this were somehow a point against it.
10 points for arguing that while a current well-established theory predicts phenomena correctly, it doesn't explain "why" they occur, or fails to provide a "mechanism".
10 points for each favorable comparison of yourself to Einstein, or claim that special or general relativity are fundamentally misguided (without good evidence).
10 points for claiming that your work is on the cutting edge of a "paradigm shift".
20 points for suggesting that you deserve a Nobel prize.
20 points for each favorable comparison of yourself to Newton or claim that classical mechanics is fundamentally misguided (without good evidence).
20 points for every use of science fiction works or myths as if they were fact.
20 points for defending yourself by bringing up (real or imagined) ridicule accorded to your past theories.
20 points for each use of the phrase "hidebound reactionary".
20 points for each use of the phrase "self-appointed defender of the orthodoxy".
30 points for suggesting that a famous figure secretly disbelieved in a theory which he or she publicly supported. (E.g., that Feynman was a closet opponent of special relativity, as deduced by reading between the lines in his freshman physics textbooks.)
30 points for suggesting that Einstein, in his later years, was groping his way towards the ideas you now advocate.
30 points for claiming that your theories were developed by an extraterrestrial civilization (without good evidence).
30 points for allusions to a delay in your work while you spent time in an asylum, or references to the psychiatrist who tried to talk you out of your theory.
40 points for comparing those who argue against your ideas to Nazis, stormtroopers, or brownshirts.
40 points for claiming that the "scientific establishment" is engaged in a "conspiracy" to prevent your work from gaining its well-deserved fame, or suchlike.
40 points for comparing yourself to Galileo, suggesting that a modern-day Inquisition is hard at work on your case, and so on.
40 points for claiming that when your theory is finally appreciated, present-day science will be seen for the sham it truly is. (30 more points for fantasizing about show trials in which scientists who mocked your theories will be forced to recant.)
50 points for claiming you have a revolutionary theory but giving no concrete testable predictions.
One remarkable thing about this book is how carefully Wolfram uses language. He is always explicit about his context. In speaking of experimental science, he will always say things like, "Experiments demonstrate..." or "Observed data support..." Speaking of axiom systems like math or logic he will say things like, "It can be proven that..." or "It has been shown that..."
And when speculating -- even about issues pivotal to his thesis -- he makes that clear as well. Here is an excerpt (emphasis mine) from one of his sections on extrapolating from thoughts based on discrete computer math to continuous reality:
"...[A]s I have discussed several times in this book, it is in many cases clear that the whole notion of continuity is just an idealization -- although one that happens to be almost required if one wants to make use of traditional mathematical methods.
"Fluids provide one obvious example. For usually they are thought of as being described by continuous mathematical equations, But at an underlying level real fluids consist of discrete particles. And this means that whatever the mathematical equations may suggest, the actual ultimate computational capabilities of fluids must be those of a system of discrete particles.
"But while it is known that many systems in nature are made up of discrete elements, it is still almost universally believed that there are some things that are fundamentally continuous -- notably positions in space and values of quantum mechanical probability amplitudes.
"Yet as I discussed in Chapter 9 my strong suspicion is that at a fundamental level absolutely every aspect of our universe will in the end turn out to be discrete. And if this is so, then it immediately implies that there cannot ever ultimately be any form of continuity in our universe that violates the Principle of Computational Equivalence.
"But what if one somehow restricts oneself to a domain where some particular system seems continuous? Can one even at this level perform more sophisticated computations than in a discrete system?
"My guess is that for all practical purposes one cannot. Indeed, it is my suspicion that with almost any reasonable set of assumptions even idealized perfectly continuous systems will never in fact be able to perform fundamentally more sophisticated computations."
[ANKOS, p. 729-30]
"...my strong suspicion...", "My guess...", "...my suspicion..."
Wolfram maintains this strict use of language throughout the 227,580 words of text, and 283,751 words of notes on the text. Facts are stated as such, usually with notes to where they are experimentally demonstrated. Proofs are called such, usually with abbreviated examples of the proof and notes to where the full proof can be found. And Wolfram's own speculation is presented in terms of his beliefs built within the context that he elaborates on in each section.
Really, for just $48 [!] I've never seen a book like this in my life.
-- Kiss of the Sith
Ever since I first read about CA twenty years ago I've been of the belief that both a top-down and a bottom-up approach to physics might be very productive indeed. However, I don't have a clue where one would start.
Can I ask you some questions about the book, based on my poor understanding of what it's all about (which I understand is cellular automata)? Does Wolfram ever mention where a person might start in modelling the universe with CA? Does he play around with some models and show where they go wrong? I mean, surely he must have tried to model it himself during the last ten years. Does he think that at least some of the rules might be derivable? Or will it all be guesswork -- and genius? There are an infinite number of conceivable rules, so trial and error seems like a hopeless strategy.
Finally, how many rules does he believe might ultimately be required to successfully model the whole universe? Again, I'm just asking out of curiosity. These are the things I'd be interested in learning about if I were to buy the book.
...Voynich manuscript -- [laughs] There are lots of Mathematica generated views of cellular automata. Lots.
...different from anything else that it might be a good purchase -- That about sums it up. The book is sort of three things in one. 1) It is a wonderful and pretty deep review of the mainstream hard sciences as of January '02; 2) It is a very carefully worded extended speculation on what physical reality may underlie mainstream beliefs; 3) It is a very detailed but readable review of 20 years worth of "computer experiments" that Wolfram has performed that formed the basis for his thinking.
Wolfram is, in real life -- outside Wolfram Research and Mathematica -- a particle physicist and he doesn't hesitate to get detailed about such stuff. But even when dwelling on the esoteric stuff, the overall tone is conversational:
"But in addition to quantitites like electric charge, another important intrinsic property of all particles is mass. And unlike for example electric charge the observed masses of elementary particles never seem to be in simple ratios -- so that for example the muon is about 206.7683 times the mass of the electron, while the tau lepton is about 16.819 times the mass of the muon. But despite such results, it is still conceivable that there could in the end be simple relations between truly fundamental particle masses -- since it turns out that the masses that have actually been observed in effect also include varying amounts of interaction energy."
[ANKOS, p. 528]
Wolfram speaks so casually, yet with so many graphic examples, that when he builds conclusions around obscure things like how the value of the so-called Ricci tensor "...in effect specifies how the Ricci scalar curvature is made up from different curvature components associated with different directions" it actually makes sense and you can actually see how this or that cellular automata effect could fit in with real life...
-- Kiss of the Sith
It does lack the ominous understatement of "Cats".
I think I can answer these questions, but I've only gone through the book once so far, and there is a ton of stuff there -- I'm sure I missed more stuff than I picked up. But it sure was a fun trip through...
(1) This book is a great introduction to cellular automata. If you have access to Mathematica -- even an old version -- it is even better because all the math work and program examples are simply working Mathematica code. Other Mathematica code is available in a companion CD and from the book's website. Without Mathematica (I don't own it) it's still a great book because Wolfram starts with the basic one-dimensional automata and explains the principle behind it and how it can be built using any programming system. From there he goes on to explain just about every type of cellular automata imaginable. Between the text and the notes, everything is explained step by step. The text description is pretty clear on how things work, and the Mathematica code is pretty clear, too, as an aid to understanding the text.
(2) Wolfram doesn't speculate about what the ultimate real-world rules might be exactly. He positions this book as a kind of foundation to a new way of thinking about reality, and leaves the elaboration of details to future work. Mostly this book is concerned with a) convincing people that this approach is reasonable; b) presenting a convincing argument that time & space (& matter) can be viewed as some type of discrete system.
(3 & 4) Wolfram does two kind of cellular automata experiments. One type which is VERY abstract, where he attempts to abstract some particular aspect of reality and model just that particular point in a simple system capable of complex behavior -- for instance, a cellular automata that creates persistent structures (I think they're sometimes called 'glider guns' to Life fans) can be likened to the creation of real world particles... The second type is where more convoluted rules are used to try and explicitly model specific real world behavior -- for instance, Wolfram has done extensive work on fluid turbulence in the real world, and he shows examples of how cellular automata can be used to seriously model such behavior using simple systems. (In fact, one of his published papers before he became a kind of recluse was using cellular automata to derive the Navier-Stokes Equations...) (This same topic -- fluid turbulence -- has been key to his thinking about relativity. It turns out that differential equations which attempt to model fluid turbulence in extreme situations such as the leading edge of the space shuttle on re-entry, create such high pressures that the normal differential equations predict singularities of one kind or another which, in fact, are never seen. Wolfram sought to do better than such approximations of reality by using discrete systems for his modeling...)
Wolfram constantly addresses the limitations of his approach, and constantly addresses the methods he used to sort through the failed attempts.
I hope this helps.
Mark W.
 |
A great episode. I have the VHS tape. From what I've read, this episode caused the production company some problems. They were taking heat for having too much violence in their story lines, and too much sex. (This is during the Leela years.) So the BBC spokesperson made some public speech saying they cared about traditions and values blah blah blah. Then, the next broadcast episode was this one, The Talons of Weng Chiang, with the great scenes of Leela learning how to dress like a British girl and, then, caught in the wet sewers in her underwear [!] being chased by a giant rat... It made the BBC executives look a little untruthful... |
-- Kiss of the Sith
Obviously a question no Sith would ever answer...
-- Kiss of the Sith
Arrghhh, that sneaky rat! Wouldn't 'ya know it? Not too keen on paying $2,000 for Mathematica. Still, I've always wanted it.
Maybe I could use my wife's shopping privileges at the university bookstore, where it's going for about $300 to faculty, staff, and students. Could also write the code myself in another language, but that might take tons of time.
Well . . . I'll think about it . . . I'm tempted, that's for sure, and it does sound interesting enough. I've read/studied a couple of books on CA and have always wondered about this very question Wolfram is raising. Thank you for answering my questions!
Definition of Trust...The Doctor has the Key to Time...Most valuable thing in the universe...People in the Tardis are All wigged out because they don't know how to keep it safe...Doctor holds it in front of this tiny slip of a warrior maid(working knife in sheath and a pouch of poison Janus thorns, very deadly) and says,
"Leela, hold onto this for me..."
"Yes Doctor."
"Leela...Its important..."
Tigress-level Relaxed Pride, Confidence, Feminine Power incarnate...Direct look in Baker's Eye...
"Then I shall look after it."
walks off camera...Doctor visibly relaxes...on to the next crisis...that one is handled...WHAT A TEAM!!! I'd hand her the Hope diamond and sleep like a baby...Zena/Lucy Lawless...Sorry Kiwi Babe...Leela Rocked my world when you were in a caste iron training bra...ZL FREEPER lookalike...Send me pictures of your guns...;-D
PS...ZL...I pity that Spawn on your profile!
This is technically off thread, but since this is my thread, I hereby grant approval...
Remember in "Image of the Fendahl" when Leela saves the Doctor from the killer skull by kicking his chair out from under him and he falls on top of her, then the camera lingers on a close up of their faces, nose to nose, and she finally says, "Doctor, you are very heavy..."
[sighs]
If I could flip through time and relative dimensions in space, I'd pick up two companions and I'd never be seen again:
-- KotS
This is technically off thread, but since this is my thread, I hereby grant approval...
Remember in "Image of the Fendahl" when Leela saves the Doctor from the killer skull by kicking his chair out from under him and he falls on top of her, then the camera lingers on a close up of their faces, nose to nose, and she finally says, "Doctor, you are very heavy..."
[sighs]
If I could flip through time and relative dimensions in space, I'd pick up two companions and I'd never be seen again:
-- KotS
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