How do scientists look at chance, or randomness, and chaos in physical systems? In answering this question for a general audience, Ruelle has produced an authoritative and elegant book--a model of clarity, succinctness, and with humor bordering on the sardonic. Ruelle is a professor of theoretical physics in France.

How do scientists look at chance, or randomness, and chaos in physical systems? In answering this question for a general audience, Ruelle writes in the best French tradition: he has produced an authoritative and elegant book--a model of clarity, succinctness, and a humor bordering at times on the sardonic.