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This is a personal story about being involved in the study of nonlinear phenomena for more than half a century. The focus is on the development of ideas and the resulting knowledge. This is the visible part of research, but much is usually hidden. The author describes how the ideas were generated and how an "invisible college" of friends and colleagues has emerged. The presentation is spiced by thoughts about the beauty of science and philosophical considerations on the complex world, where nonlinear interactions play an important role.
The book is in some sense a biography but not so much about the personal life of the author - it is about science and its actors. Based on the author's experience in many European research centres and science policy institutions, it reflects on the development of knowledge in nonlinear dynamics as well as science policy actions over the second half of the 20th century and the first quarter of the 21st century. Graduates and postgraduates interested in the progress of research will find the book particularly engaging.
List of contents
1 Nonlinearity.- 2 Starting the journey.- 3 Institute of Cybernetics.- Centre for Nonlinear Studies - CENS, 1999-2015.- 5 Research goes on after CENS.- 6 Science policy.- 7 Invisible college.- 8 Beauty of nonlinearities.- 9 Epilogue.
About the author
Jüri Engelbrecht has taught at the Tallinn University of Technology since 1968 and joined the Institute of Cybernetics in 1969. He has published many research papers and several monographs on nonlinear wave motion, and has held many positions, including President of the Estonian Academy of Sciences (1994-2004), President of the European Federation of National Academies of Sciences and Humanities - ALLEA (2006-2011), Bureau member of the International Union of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics - IUTAM, and Council member of Euromech. In 2015 he received the Estonian Lifetime Achievement award for his research and in 2020 - the Estonian Science Communication award for the long-term systematic popularization of science and technology.
