An Introduction to Nonlinear Chemical Dynamics Oscillations, Waves, Patterns, and Chaos

Over the past three decades oscillating reactions, chaos, and chemicalpattern formation have become important areas of research. While there are anumber of books on nonlinear dynamics, this is one of the first book writtenspecifically for chemists. Assuming only an undergraduate knowledge ofchemistry, the authors explain why chemists initially thought oscillatingreactions violated the second law of thermodynamics and then go on to developthe mathematical and theoretical background necessary to understand current workon oscillating reactions, chaos, and chemical waves. Throughout their discussionthe authors emphasize the chemical mechanistic basis for self-organization, andto help readers begin research in the field, they cover practical aspects ofreactor design, data analysis, and computer simulations. They also includechapters devoted to such advanced topics as complex oscillations, biologicalsystems, polymers, interaction of fields with waves, and Turing patterns. Thebook concludes with appendices devoted to time-tested demonstrations andexperiments ideal for an undergraduate laboratory.