  We study the isotropization of a homogeneous, strongly coupled, non-Abelian
plasma by means of its gravity dual. We compare the time evolution of a large
number of initially anisotropic states as determined, on the one hand, by the
full non-linear Einstein's equations and, on the other, by the Einstein's
equations linearized around the final equilibrium state. The linear
approximation works remarkably well even for states that exhibit large
anisotropies. For example, it predicts with a 20% accuracy the isotropization
time, which is of the order of t_iso \lesssim 1/T, with T the final equilibrium
temperature. We comment on possible extensions to less symmetric situations.
