July 27, 2003 my friend Jonni wrote: bought this book in 1974. I'd already read it 7 or 8 times (as a child) but felt as if I needed to read it again. Since then, I've read it another 3 or 4 times. It's now time to pass it along to my dear friend Jan Loeffler. He's seen the movie but has never read the book. He's in for a wonderful treat.
Along with sending the book to my friend, I made a special 7 card series of Artist Trading Cards and a couple of bookmarks which I tucked inside the book. You can see the ATCs Alice in Wonderland ….
Or you may surf to BookCrossing.com member StoneHarpMan Journal Page about this book.
June 24, 1999: This book provides a great introduction to chaos theory and strikes a devastating blow to reductionism. Using a historical approach, the book walks the reader through the discoveries and mathematics that underlie fractals, chaos and complexity. It also provides a short, fascinating interview with Ilya Prigogine and a great layperson's introduction to his ideas. Turbulent Mirror makes the point that because of “sensitive dependence on initial conditions” one can not really separate the whole from the parts - in essence there really are no “initial conditions.” The only weakness of this book, IMHO, is the use of Occasional Alice and Wonderland illustrations and a few too many quotes from eastern philosophy. These are not overpowering, however, so if you don't like them them can ignore them and enjoy the rest of the material which is truly great.
On the surface, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is a light-hearted frolick in a weird and wonderful place with equally weird and wonderful characters, but the book is indeed packed with philosophical ideas and musings. To journey down the rabbit hole is not only a journey into the imagination, but also a journey into logic and realism. While her adventure is steeped in absurdity, Alice poses sharp questions about life and the ‘real’ world.
Smink Works Books offers a free e-book download of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. http://www.sminkworks.com