Book excerpt: Chaos theory is giving scientists fresh insights into all sorts of unruly phenomena-from dripping faucets to swinging pendulums, from the vagaries of the weather to the movements of the planets, from heart rhythms to gold futures. In this collection of front-line reports, edited for the general reader, internationally recognized experts such as Ian Stewart, Robert M. May, and Benoit Mandelbrot draw on the latest research to trace the roots of chaos in modern science and mathematics.