the topics that future mathematicians and biologists, as well as physicists and chemists, will find fascinating and central to their work. The amazing breadth of the field is reflected in the author's large supply of carefully crafted exercises, each an introduction to a whole field of study:

everything from chaos through information theory to life at the end of the universe. - ;The author's style, although quite concentrated, is simple to understand, and has many lovely visual examples to accompany formal ideas and concepts, which makes the exposition live and intuitvely appealing. - Olga K. Dudko, Journal of Statistical Physics, Vol 126;Since the book treats intersections of mathematics, biology, engineering, computer science and social sciences, it will be of a great help to researchers in these fields in making statistical mechanics useful and comprehensible. At the same time, the book will enrich the subject for researchers-physicists who'd like to apply their skills in other disciplines. - Olga K. Dudko, Journal of Statistical Physics, Vol 126  less