preview

Essay on Chaos Theory Explained

Better Essays

Chaos Theory Explained “Traditionally, scientists have looked for the simplest view of the world around us. Now, mathematics and computer powers have produced a theory that helps researchers to understand the complexities of nature. The theory of chaos touches all disciplines.” -Ian Percival, The Essence of Chaos Part I: The Basics of Chaos. Watch a leaf flow down stream; watch its behavior within the water… Perhaps it will sit upon the surface, gently twirling along with the current, dancing around eddies, slightly spinning, then all of a sudden, it slaps into a rock or gets sucked beneath the water by a small whirlpool. After doing this enough times one will realize it is nearly impossible to accurately …show more content…

In the last years of the 19th century French mathematician, physicist and philosopher Henri Poincare’ stumbled headlong into chaos with a realization that the reductionism method may be illusory in nature. He was studying his chosen field at the time; a field he called ‘the mathematics of closed systems’ the epitome of Newtonian physics. A Closed system is one made up of just a few interacting bodies sealed off from outside contamination. According to classical physics, such systems are perfectly orderly and predictable. A simple pendulum in a vacuum, free of friction and air resistance will conserve its energy. The pendulum will swing back and forth for all eternity. It will not be subject to the dissipation of entropy, which eats its way into systems by causing them to give up their energy to the surrounding environment. Classical scientists were convinced that any randomness and chaos disturbing a system such as a pendulum in a vacuum or the revolving planets could only come from outside chance contingencies. Barring those, pendulum and planets must continue forever, unvarying in their courses.2 It was this comfortable picture of nature that Poincare’ blew apart when he attempted to determine The stability of our solar system… For a system containing only two bodies, such as the sun and

Get Access