Developed at Penn State University, this undergraduate textbook describes the necessary mathematical tools to study many of the examples in Schroeder's Fractals, chaos, power laws: minutes from an infinite paradise published in 1991. The 37 lectures explore dimension theory and its connections to dynamical systems, the FitzHugh-Nagumo model of signal propagation through the axon of a neuron cell, and the Lorenz model of fluid behavior between two plates heated to different temperatures. Annotation ©2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)