Chaos Theory Asimov S Foundations And Robots And Herbert S Dune

Isaac Asimov and Frank Herbert remain two of the most popular and influential science fiction writers of the 20th century. Each is a master structuralist whose works succeed in large part through the careful mirroring of concepts at every narrative level. While the fiction of Herbert and Asimov has attracted scholarly attention, science itself is a crucial element that is almost completely ignored in critical assessments of science fiction as literature. Because the works of Asimov and Herbert are grounded in scientific premises, an appreciation of their literary structure depends on an understanding of the scientific concepts informing them. This book examines Herbert's Dune series and Asimov's Foundation trilogy and robot stories from the perspective of chaos theory to elucidate the structure of their works. Chaos theory is the study of orderly patterns in turbulent, dynamic, or erratic systems. The order of these systems stems from the interdependence of numerous interlocking events or components. These may take the form of fractal structures, in which similar but not necessarily identical structures are replicated across the same scale and increasingly smaller scales. This book argues that in drawing upon apparently chaotic natural and scientific systems, Herbert and Asimov created fractal narrative structures in their works.

This book offers an examination of Jeff Noon’s iconoclastic debut novel, Vurt (1993). In this first book-length study of the novel, which includes an extended interview with Noon, Wenaus considers how Vurt complicates the process of literary canonization, its constructivist relationship to genre, its violent and oneiric setting of Manchester, its use of the Orphic myth as an archetype for the practice of literary collage and musical remix, and how the structural paradoxes of chaos and fractal geometry inform the novel’s content, form, and theme. Finally, Wenaus makes the case for Vurt’s ongoing relevance in the 21st century, an era increasingly characterized by neuro-totalitarianism, psychopolitics, and digital surveillance. With Vurt, Noon begins his project of rupturing feedback loops of control by breaking narrative habits and embracing the contingent and unpredictable. An inventive, energetic, and heartbreaking novel, Vurt is also an optimistic and heartfelt call for artists to actively create open futures.

In "The role of Science Fiction in selected works of Isaac Asimov and Kurt Vonnegut" the author elaborates upon important similarities and differences between the use of science fiction motives in selected works of Isaac Asimov and Kurt Vonnegut. The analysis includes Asimov's Foundation and Robots and Empire and Vonnegut's Sirens of Titan and Galapagos.

This book offers a critical study of Frank Herbert’s Dune (1965), the world’s bestselling science fiction novel. Kara Kennedy discusses the novel’s exploration of politics and religion, its influential ecological messages, the focus on the human mind and consciousness, the complex nature of the archetypal hero, and the depiction of women’s influence and control. In Dune, Herbert demonstrated that sophistication, complexity, and a multi-layered world with three-dimensional characters could sit comfortably within the science fiction genre. Underneath its deceptively simple storyline sits a wealth of historical and philosophical contexts and influences that make it a rich masterpiece open to multiple interpretations. Kennedy’s study shows the continuing relevance of the novel in the 21st century due to its classic themes and its concerns about the future of humanity, as well as the ongoing nature of issues such as ecological disruption and conflicts over resources and religion.

Organizational Change and Global Standardization: Solutions to Standards and Norms Overwhelming Organizations takes an organizational change approach to the overflow of standards and norms, looking at how to deal effectively and ethically with four kinds of standards and norms businesses face when they go global: (1) accounting & finance (2) international & world trade,(3) social and (4) safety & quality & environment. It is part of a larger problem faced by not only business, but every sort of organization - how to live with the epidemic of standards and norms, often in conflict, many just unnecessary, and a few that are quite helpful and important. There are good reasons to have International Standards Organization (ISO), International Labor Organization (ILO), World Trade Organization (WTO), North Atlantic Treaty Association (NAFTA), International accounting Standards Boards (IASB), International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)), and many more standard-setting organizations issuing, auditing, proposing codes of ethics, and certifying standards and norms. However, there are important, poorly understood organizational change consequences to the contagion of standards and norms. This volume brings together a unique group of authors who are working on a pragmatic way for organizations to deal with an overflow of standards and norms that are often at heads, ambiguous, or simply created to produce more work for a burgeoning standards setting industry. The aim of Organizational Change and Global Standardization is to stimulate a critical analysis within the framework of analytical and pragmatic approach to an overwhelming bureaucratization of the managed and organized global activities.

Frank Herbert's »Dune« (1965) is considered to be one of the most successful Science Fiction novels of the 20th century. It introduces its readers to a future universe, in which the production of the most valuable resource of the universe – ›spice‹ – is only possible on one vast desert planet called Arrakis. »Dune« offers many different motifs, including a hero that eventually turns into a superhuman being. However, the novel is also rich of orientalist semiotics and relates to a sign system existent when Herbert wrote his book. Frank Jacob discusses these semiotics in detail and shows how much of »Lawrence of Arabia« is present in the story's plot.

Cognitive mathematics provides insights into how mathematics works inside the brain and how it is interconnected with other faculties through so-called blending and other associative processes. This handbook is the first large collection of various aspects of cognitive mathematics to be amassed into a single title, covering decades of connection between mathematics and other figurative processes as they manifest themselves in language, art, and even algorithms. It will be of use to anyone working in math cognition and education, with each section of the handbook edited by an international leader in that field.

Praise for the previous edition:Booklist/RBB "Twenty Best Bets for Student Researchers"RUSA/ALA "Outstanding Reference Source"" ... useful ... Recommended for public libraries and undergraduates."