A semitechnical introduction to what has become the new paradigm in the realm of mathematics. The author comes from a peripheral field (geology/hydrology) and writes with an informal style; no prior knowledge of chaos theory is assumed. Intended for those without a strong mathematics and physics background, this survey nevertheless does require persistence and motivation on the reader's part along with some familiarity (through introductory courses) with algebra, trigonometry geometry, and statistics. After introductory background chapters, he offers a foundation of selected important material from various fields, followed by more advanced concepts.