Sync: The Emerging Science of Spontaneous Order

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Summary: Great treatise on synchronization and natural order
Review: "Sync: The Emerging Science of Spontaneous Order" is a dissertation on synchronization and its place in the universe. Standard entropy theory has always indicated that a system that is orderly will, over time, move to a position of less and less organization. However, that is not always consistent with observations in real life. Steven Strogatz does an inspired job of describing how synchronization exists in such small areas as fireflies and plant leaves to much larger concepts of the universe and the asteroid belt in our solar system.

One of the more fascinating sections of the book deals with synchronization in human beings. It covers current research in areas such as sleep rhythms, circadian rhythms, the tendency for women to match menstrual cycles over time, body temperature rhythms, and various other normal cycles of the human experience.

This is a very academically oriented text that many with only a passing interest in such things might find too detailed and scientific for their likes. On the other hand, for those with a keen interest in the cycles of the natural world and current research into this emerging field this is one of the foremost texts on the subject. It is a highly recommended read for anyone with a desire to learn about how natural tendencies toward synchronization move us to spontaneous order.

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Summary: Considering how cycles are coordinated and humans affected
Review: 'Sync' is the emerging science of spontaneous order, studying the elements of synchrony and chaos and complexity theory and considering how cycles are coordinated and humans affected. This is a relatively new science and in Sync: The Emerging Science Of Spontaneous Order, author and mathematician Steven Strogatz (one of its early pioneers), provides invaluable and informative insights into how enormous systems can synchronize themselves and draw upon underlying connections.

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Summary: A New Vocabulary for "Reality"
Review: Exactly what does "the emerging science of spontaneous order" actually explore? Why? So what? These were among the questions in my mind as I began to read this book, one which Strogatz may well have written for non-scientists such as I who tend to ask such basic questions. The science of synchrony applies all relevant resources from disciplines such as mathematics, physics and biology to examine and then explain how and why spontaneous order occurs at every level of the cosmos, in the smallest as well as largest measurable forms. Strogatz invites his reader to tag along as he examines diverse phenomena of synchrony such as fireflies that flash in unison by the thousands, human "body clocks," Christian Huygens' experiments and discoveries (e.g. in 1665 when his two pendulum clocks began to swing in unison once within a certain distance of each other), and the closing in 2000 of the Millennium footbridge in London after hundreds of pedestrians caused the bridge to sway dangerously as they adjusted their pace to its undulations.

As other reviewers have already noted, Strogatz explores synchrony in chaos systems, at the quantum level, in small-world networks as exemplified by the parlor game "six degrees of Kevin Bacon" and in human behavior involving fads, mobs and the herd mentality of stock traders. The author traces how the isolated and often accidental discoveries of researchers are beginning to gel into the science of synchrony, and he illustrates how the laws of mathematics underlie the universe's uncanny capacity for spontaneous order. For non-scientists such as I, authors such as Strogatz and Albert-Laszlo Barabasi (author of Linked) avoid highly technical concepts and nomenclature while examining an abundance of scientific research on the complexity of systems. Some believe that chaos may somehow mysteriously result in what are merely the illusions of structure and order. Strogatz and others assert that, on the contrary, everything really is connected (directly or indirectly) with everything else.

Long ago, Voltaire urged us to cherish those who seek the truth but beware of those who find it. With all due respect to pioneer thinkers such as Strogatz, a great deal more scientific research must yet be completed and evaluated. Terms such as spontaneity, synchrony, and complexity may well be familiar but the nature and extent of their scientific causes and, more importantly, of their interrelationships (indeed of their interdependence) have yet to be fully revealed. Only then can the significance and implications of such realities be explored with appropriate focus, Strogatz suggests, if not fully understood for decades to come.

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Summary: Find out the origin of sync!!!
Review: Good book on the subject, the physics part in the middle with super-fluid was difficult when stoned. This is one of the first books which is leading to the convergence of science and religion ( science being the religion of cause and effect ). I especially liked how the book ends with brain-sync to create thoughts and emotions. I've just finished the book "Mind wide Open" because I wanted to know more about how the brain worked because of it. I'm now starting "Mind and Nature: A Necessary Unity (Advances in Systems Theory, Complexity, and the Human Sciences)", all because of this book. So I liked this book as you can tell. But good books written by Math professors are rare.

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Summary: SYNC a "group mind"
Review: Have you ever wondered how a flock of seagulls can synchronize as though it had a "group mind"? Or even stranger, how various pieces of machinery can appear to conspire together?
Prof. Steven Strogatz shows lucidly, and without written math, that there is a solid mathematical basis leading toward a natural tendency for everything from atoms and galaxies to living organisms to synchronize their behavior and spontaneously form ordered structures. Beginning with the uncanny spectacle of thousands of fireflies flashing in unison, and demonstrating the same principles, heart cells, and civilizations, Sync is filled with fascinating accounts of seemingly - mysterious self-organizing behavior. And computer studies have shown that this appears to be built into nature itself. A unifying theme is "coupled oscillators", as basic a concept as vibrating guitar strings, and how different notes can vibrate parts of the room walls. Such resonance effects exist in all the Universe, and weak though they may be they can produce profound effects in a large group.
After reading Sync, you may initially feel that synchronous "group mind-like" behavior in everything from fireflies to economic cycles is less mysterious, knowing that there's a mathematical foundation. But upon reflection, the mystery even deepens: mathematics is the study of possible relationships among pure numbers, yet when applied to simple vibrating objects, the results pertain to both "dumb" particles and intelligent humans. And while Prof. Strogatz sticks to known science, I'm left speculating on exactly what's so "dumb" about nature!

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Summary: A casual chat, that's all
Review: I am very disappointed since I was looking for good explanations from a real expert on sync. Instead, throughout the book, it reads like a casual chat during a flight with a regular person sitting next to you showing mild interest in what you do. I am sure there is much more underneath the observations, but he quickly moved on to the next fun fact before you can ask why.
With a layman's knowledge of chaos theory and system dynamics, I disagree with most other reviewers about how much you can learn from this extremely shallow book. The content of the book was summed up neatly in the Epilogue: "I hope I've given you a sense of how thrilling it is to be a scientist right now. It feels like the dawn of a new era." (The first sentence, P285.)
Still, I give it two stars since it achieved the purpose stated above. For example, I enjoyed the little story of how Steve accidentally got to know a lonely but brilliant scientist through a book picked up randomly at a book store that carried the title similar to his own unusual paper and eventually worked for him.

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Summary: Very enjoyable and thought-provoking
Review: I enjoyed the book a great deal. One interesting aspect, for a person who lives in Mexico's poorest state, is how much money and brainpower humanity devotes to warfare, satisfying its curiosity, and studying "diseases of the rich" while so many people lack food, shelter, and basic medical care.

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Summary: A "Must Read" book!
Review: Review of Sync: The Emerging Science of Spontaneous Order, by Steven Strogatz

Reviewer: Mark Lamendola, IEEE Senior Member and author of over 3500 articles.

Two thumbs up! This entertaining and informative book is one of the few I would read twice. You know those lists of books you'd want to have if you were stranded on a desert island? Sync made my list.

While Sync is fact-filled, it's far from dry. Throughout the text, Strogatz made me laugh out loud-reminding me very much of the engaging, "can't put it down" writing style used by Bill Bryson (author of Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail and The Lost Continent).

Strogatz takes a complex topic, and explains it in a way that even folks with no innate interest in the topic will find enjoyable. I learned quite a bit about how and why everything from atoms to planets will suddenly act in unison-or not do so. My newly-gained understanding of the relationship between sleep cycles and body temperature cycles has already helped me make some positive changes. Then there's the explanation of traffic....
Not once did Strogatz use an intimidating equation-or any equation at all. Instead, he treats the reader to rich metaphors, analogies, and examples. And instead of dry history on how sync got where it is today, Strogatz shares the frustrations, peculiarities, and human drama of the people behind the developments. Strogatz keeps a pace that is more in line with a Tom Clancy novel than a book focused on a science topic.

The ending made me go back to the beginning-to the dedication, actually. I never cared about dedications, before. However this one really meant something to me after I read Sync. Strogatz dedicated Sync to his departed friend Art Winfree, without whom Strogatz would never have taken his fabulous journey and without whom such a marvelous book would not have been possible.

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Summary: Universal harmony
Review: Sync investigates the concept of universal harmony. The drive to synchronization is one of the most far-reaching phenomena in the universe, encompassing people, planets, atoms, animals and a whole lot more. But the laws of Thermodynamics seem to dictate the opposite - that nature should degenerate toward entropy. This is not so, as magnificent small and large structures like galaxies and cells keep assembling themselves in perfect harmony.

Drawing on Chaos & Complexity Theory, Strogatz examines the connections linking the phenomena of the mathematics of self-organization, where trillions of interactions result in order emerging from chaos. There is a steady and insistent pulse at the heart of the cosmos that resonates from the nucleus of the cell to the largest galaxy in a chorus of synchronized cycles that pervade all of nature.

The author refers to the work of scientists from many disciplines, including Einstein, Richard Feynman, Brian Josephson, Norbert Wiener, Paul Erdos, Stanley Milgram, Boris Belousov Edward Lorenz and Arthur Winfree. Part One, Living In Sync, deals with these manifestations in for example human brainwaves and the behaviour of fireflies, whilst Part Two, Discovering Sync, looks at the universe as a whole and at quantum theory. Part Three, Exploring Sync, investigates synchronization, chaos and small world networks.

There are some black and white illustrations, copious notes and an index. This book is a fascinating journey through the strange and beautiful phenomenon of synchronization, the harmonious music of the universe that builds and sustains life.


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Summary: SYNC out loud
Review: Sync is captivating and a great read. I especially liked the chapter on sleep, which was particularly thought provoking.

Although Dr. Strogatz is obviously a brilliant scientist, he writes in such a clear and engaging way, that I was able to understand the very complex topics he discusses.

This is a great book for people interested in the mysteries of the universe and of everyday life. Sync is the first popular science book I've read in a long time that I've totally enjoyed.