In Serres's formulation, the mathematics provides the models that illustrate the system. What flummoxed professor Conley is that many French mathematical terms are also ordinary French words, that have common, non-technical usages. Whenever such mathematical terms are used, Conley is oblivious to the fact that mathematics is even being discussed and renders the words with their everyday meanings. The book abounds in such instances. The opening image of the Baroque is a bit vague, but then again, Deleuze has always been short on precise connections and plentiful on creative and unorthodox imageries.
Some sections are plain impossible to decipher.
The are best imagined than really thought-through. I'm still lost. I'll probably never understand. The book is also full of other interesting and elusive scientific theories in the realm of physics, mathematics, and set-theory. Now this is an interpretation that would have occurred to no one without Professor Conley's help.