Picture 1 of 5
Ubiquity : The Science of History... or Why the World Is Simpler Than We...
Condition:
Shipping:
Located in: Bristol, Vermont, United States
Delivery:
Estimated between Sat, May 11 and Thu, May 16 to 43230
Returns:
Payments:
Shop with confidence
Seller assumes all responsibility for this listing.
eBay item number:386276734845
10% of the sale of this item will benefit The Skatepark Project
- Official eBay for Charity listing. Learn more
- This sale benefits a verified non-profit partner.
Item specifics
- Condition
- ISBN
- 9780609608104
- Publication Year
- 2001
- Format
- Hardcover
- Language
- English
- Book Title
- Ubiquity : the Science of History... or Why the World Is Simpler than We Think
- Item Length
- 9.2in
- Publisher
- Crown Publishing Group, T.H.E.
- Genre
- Science
- Topic
- Physics / General
- Item Width
- 6.1in
- Item Weight
- 18.3 Oz
- Number of Pages
- 288 Pages
About this product
Product Information
Why do catastrophes happen? What sets off earthquakes, for example? What about mass extinctions of species? The outbreak of major wars? Massive traffic jams that seem to appear out of nowhere? Why does the stock market periodically suffer dramatic crashes? Why do some forest fires become superheated infernos that rage totally out of control? Experts have never been able to explain the causes of any of these disasters. Now scientists have discovered that these seemingly unrelated cataclysms, both natural and human, almost certainly all happen for one fundamental reason. More than that, there is not and never will be any way to predict them. Critically acclaimed science journalist Mark Buchanan tells the fascinating story of the discovery that there is a natural structure of instability woven into the fabric of our world. From humble beginnings studying the physics of sandpiles, scientists have learned that an astonishing range of thingsEarth's crust, cars on a highway, the market for stocks, and the tightly woven networks of human societyhave a natural tendency to organize themselves into what's called the "critical state," in which they are poised on what Buchanan describes as the "knife-edge of instability." The more places scientists have looked for the critical state, the more places they've found it, and some believe that the pervasiveness of instability must now be seen as a fundamental feature of our world. Ubiquity is packed with stories of real-life catastrophes, such as the huge earthquake that in 1995 hit Kobe, Japan, killing 5,000 peop≤ the forest fires that ravaged Yellowstone National Park in 1988; the stock market crash of 1987; the mass extinction that killed off the dinosaurs; and the outbreak of World War I. Combining literary flair with scientific rigor, Buchanan introduces the researchers who have pieced together the evidence of the critical state, explaining their ingenious work and unexpected insights in beautifully lucid prose. At the dawn of this new century, Buchanan reveals, we are witnessing the emergence of an extraordinarily powerful new field of science that will help us comprehend the bewildering and unruly rhythms that dominate our lives and may even lead to a true science of the dynamics of human culture and history.
Product Identifiers
Publisher
Crown Publishing Group, T.H.E.
ISBN-10
060960810x
ISBN-13
9780609608104
eBay Product ID (ePID)
12038775204
Product Key Features
Book Title
Ubiquity : the Science of History... or Why the World Is Simpler than We Think
Format
Hardcover
Language
English
Topic
Physics / General
Publication Year
2001
Genre
Science
Number of Pages
288 Pages
Dimensions
Item Length
9.2in
Item Width
6.1in
Item Weight
18.3 Oz
Additional Product Features
Lc Classification Number
Qc6.4.C3b83 2001
Reviews
"I grabbed this book and turned the pages. Does Buchanan get it right? Does he really understand how this might change the way we look at the world? He does. This is the book I wish I had written." -Per Bak, author of How Nature Works "Ubiquity explains better than any previous book why many fields of the natural world and human life are unpredictable." -Financial Times (London) "There are many subtleties and twists in the story to which we shall come later in this book, but the basic message, roughly speaking, is simple: The peculiar and exceptionally unstable organization of the critical state does indeed seem to be ubiquitous in our world. Researchers in the past few years have found its mathematical fingerprints in the workings of all the upheavals I've mentioned so far, as well as in the spreading of epidemics, the flaring of traffic jams, the patterns by which instructions trickle down from managers to workers in an office, and in many other things. At the heart of our story, then, lies the discovery that networks of things of all kinds-atoms, molecules, species, people, and even ideas-have a marked tendency to organize themselves along similar lines. On the basis of this insight, scientists are finally beginning to fathom what lies behind tumultuous events of all sorts, and to see patterns at work where they have never seen them before." -from the Introduction
Copyright Date
2001
Target Audience
Trade
Lccn
2001-028365
Dewey Decimal
530/.01
Dewey Edition
21
Illustrated
Yes
Item description from the seller
Seller assumes all responsibility for this listing.
eBay item number:386276734845
Shipping and handling
Item location:
Bristol, Vermont, United States
Ships to:
Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan Republic, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bermuda, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde Islands, Cayman Islands, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, Gabon Republic, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Gibraltar, Greece, Greenland, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macau, Macedonia, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Montserrat, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of Croatia, Republic of the Congo, Romania, Rwanda, Saint Kitts-Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Turks and Caicos Islands, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Vatican City State, Vietnam, Wallis and Futuna, Western Samoa, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe
Excludes:
Barbados, French Guiana, French Polynesia, Guadeloupe, Libya, Martinique, New Caledonia, Reunion, Russian Federation, Ukraine, Venezuela
Shipping and handling | To | Service | Delivery*See Delivery notes |
---|---|---|---|
Free shipping | United States | Economy Shipping (USPS Media MailTM) | Estimated between Sat, May 11 and Thu, May 16 to 43230 |
Handling time |
---|
Will usually ship within 2 business days of receiving cleared payment. |
Taxes |
---|
Taxes may be applicable at checkout. Learn moreLearn more about paying tax on eBay purchases |
Sales tax for an item #386276734845
Sales tax for an item #386276734845
Seller collects sales tax for items shipped to the following provinces:
Province | Sales Tax Rate |
---|
Return policy
After receiving the item, contact seller within | Refund will be given as |
---|---|
30 days after the buyer receives it | Money Back |
The buyer is responsible for return shipping costs.
Payment details
Payment methods
Seller feedback (39)
m***n (84)- Feedback left by buyer.
Past 6 months
Verified purchase
Had been looking for this item for years! Was VERY happy with purchase. Really wonderfully packaged and arrived safely. Couldn't be happier (good price too)! ^_^ Would buy from seller again!
a***7 (1033)- Feedback left by buyer.
Past month
Verified purchase
EXCELLENT BOOK, ITEM BETTER THAN DESCRIBED, HONEST SELLER, FAST SHIPPING, HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS SELLER TO THE EBAY COMMUNITY!
p***p (290)- Feedback left by buyer.
Past month
Verified purchase
Great seller. Prompt shipping, item exactly as described.
Product ratings and reviews
Most relevant reviews
- Sep 28, 2021
Good book Good value
Verified purchase: YesCondition: Pre-OwnedSold by: dav1doo7
More to explore:
- History Popular Science Magazines,
- History World History Study Guides & Test Prep,
- History Nonfiction Science Fiction & Nonfiction Books,
- History Cycle World Magazines,
- History Science Fiction Antiquarian & Collectible Books,
- World History Nonfiction Books & Fiction,
- World History Antiquarian & Collectible Books,
- World History Study Guides & Test Prep,
- Illustrated History World Antiquarian & Collectible Books,
- World History Hardcover Antiquarian & Collectible Books