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Table of ContentsChaos Theory

Chaos Theory - 5 / 12 / 2002
fractals
    - a geometric pattern that is repeated at ever smaller scales to produce irregular
        shapes and surfaces that cannot be represented by classical geometry
    - used especially in computer modeling of irregular patterns and structures in nature
        [AHD3]
the butterfly effect
    sensitve dependence on initial conditions
Heisenberg's uncertainty principle
    - a principle in quantum mechanics holding that increasing the accuracy
         of measurement of one observable quantity increases the uncertainty
         with which other quantities may be known [AHD3]
    the act of observing changes the observed
complex systems
    the more complex a system is, the easier it is to drive into chaotic behavior
    weather
    human cultures
    magic
    computers and software
can define boundries, but not position within boundries
nonlinearity
    the "difficulties" of nonlinearity
    the prevalence of nonlinearity
    the tendency of older science to ignore / discount nonlinear results
calculus
    1 <> 1
        uniqueness
    1 + 1 = 3 for large numbers of 1
    approximations
    good enough
    engineering
        catastrophic failure
            Tacoma Narrows bridge - 1940
                Galloping Gertie
order within chaos
    order is a subset of chaos
    regions of stability
 
Chaos: Making a New Science - James Gleick
Computers and the Imagination - Clifford A. Pickover

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