Chaos
Chaos by James Gleickby James Gleick
Shares rank 8 of 50 popular science books by recommenders
Recommended as a good, quick introduction to chaos theory, emergent phenomena and the history of the field.
Recommended as a good, quick introduction to chaos theory, emergent phenomena and the history of the field.
9 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 9
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 5 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 9 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 5 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Good introduction to chaos theory
“It's a great introduction to chaos theory and emergent phenomena.”
Comment from 27 Dec 2025 in “Ask HN: What did you read in 2025?” “Gleick's Chaos is a really good introduction to that.”
Comment from 12 Aug 2026 in “Compression Is Prediction” “a good quick introduction to complexity”
Comment from 27 Dec 2025 in “Ask HN: What did you read in 2025?” Inspired interest in physics and science
“So I fell in love with Physics when I read Chaos by James Gleick”
Comment from 7 Oct 2026 in “Show HN: Emergence: a fun little app to play with chaos” “Given what I learned from "chaos" by James Gleick”
Comment from 26 Jul 2026 in “The Strongest El Niño Ever” “two books that shaped my teenage years”
Comment from 8 Oct 2026 in “Margaret Hamilton has died”
Other popular science books people recommend
The four most recommended other popular science books, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gödel, Escher, Bachby Douglas R. Hofstadter | 47 | 10 | 82% | 10 | — | Approved |
| Thinking, Fast and Slowby Daniel Kahneman | 17 | 13 | 57% | 9 | — | — |
| Thinking in Systemsby Donella H. Meadows and Diana Wright | 17 | 0 | 100% | 8 | — | Approved |
| The Selfish Geneby Richard Dawkins | 14 | 5 | 74% | 8 | — | Approved |
| Chaosby James GleickThis page | 9 | 0 | 100% | 5 | — | — |
What people said
8 of the 9 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“two books that shaped my teenage years”
“So I fell in love with Physics when I read Chaos by James Gleick”
“Gleick's Chaos is a really good introduction to that.”
“Given what I learned from "chaos" by James Gleick”
“a good quick introduction to complexity”
“It's a great introduction to chaos theory and emergent phenomena.”
“it was the audiobook version, which I immediately realized was not going to be very effective if I can't see any images or equations”
“if you want to know more of the history of chaos”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.