Six Sources of Collapse

Charles Hadlock has worked as a risk consultant in the chemical, power, transportation and mining industries. As the dean of a business school, he witnessed collapses of corporations, currencies and markets. Combined with his scientific background, interdisciplinary collaborative work and extensive management experience at the top levels of corporations and governments, he has a uniquely broad perspective on collapse processes. He has previously authored an award-winning monograph on field theory and an acclaimed text on mathematical modelling in environmental management.

Based on his experience as a risk consultant, manager, and professor of finance and mathematics, Hadlock examines the phenomenon of collapse from six different technical points of view, namely low probability events, group behavior, evolutionary processes, instability, nonlinear dynamics, and network effects. In each case, we are offered a high-level, accessible presentation of the underlying mathematical notions. … all chapters are rife with real-world instances of collapse that can be explained, or at least analysed, under one or more of the six approaches. Readers are likely to find such examples one of the most compelling contributions of the book." - Marco Faella, Mathematical Reviews"Hadlock's writing is invariably clear and concise, yet informal and appealing, as befits a mathematical memoirist. The book is by no means a textbook, although it could be regarded as a compendium of modules suitable for presentation to undergraduates at various stages of development by instructors seeking to enhance their lectures with a smattering of genuine applications. For that reason alone, every teaching mathematician should own a copy of this book!" - James Case, SIAM News"… The book is organized into chapters that can be read independently, but taken as whole it provides a very broad overview of the mathematical ideas behind complexity theory. Readers need some knowledge of calculus, differential equations, and probability to fully understand the material, but this book requires less mathematical background than many other books on this topic. It would be suitable for undergraduate students in science and engineering as well as students in the social sciences and management." - B. Borchers, CHOICE

• PrefaceAcknowledgements1. Introduction2. Predicting Unpredictable Events3. Group Behavior: Crowds, Herds, and Video Games4. Evolution and Collapse: Game Playing in a Changing World5. Instability, Oscillation, and Feedback6. Nonlinearity: Invitation to Chaos and Catastrophe7. It's All About Networks8. Putting It All Together: Looking at Collapse Phenomena in "6-D"ReferencesIndexAbout the Author