Chance and Chaos

Ruelle, French professor of theoretical physics and author of several graduate-level mathematics and physics texts, here demonstrates the advanced ability to teach the general reader with conversational grace. The pace of his ``walk among the scientific results of the twentieth century'' does not rely on ``great men'' nor yet on historicity but on good structure. Ruelle guides the reader through Godel's theorem, quantum mechanics, strange attractors and a half-dozen of the most exotic modern theories. All the while his twin themes, mathematical chance and chaos theory, bound alongside like two dachshunds on a leash. If these themes wander into less fruitful speculations about the mathematical function of sex, for example, nonetheless Ruelle's ``walk'' has clarity and delight. To his credit, he does not spare the reader all of the number theory and notation. (Dec.)