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In chaos theory, the butterfly effect is the sensitive dependence on initial conditions in which a small change in one state of a deterministic nonlinear system can result in large differences in a later state. The term is closely associated with the work of the mathematician and meteorologist Edward Norton Lorenz.
For example, even the small flap of a butterfly's wings could set the earth's atmosphere on a vastly different trajectory, in which for example a hurricane occurs where it otherwise would have not (see Saddle points). The shape of the Lorenz attractor itself, when plotted in phase space, may also be seen to resemble a butterfly.
Chaos theory (or chaology [1]) is ... The butterfly effect, ... Chaos theory has applications in a variety of disciplines, including meteorology, [9] anthropology, ...
Lorenz was born in 1917 in West Hartford, Connecticut. [5] He acquired an early love of science from both sides of his family. His father, Edward Henry Lorenz (1882-1956), majored in mechanical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and his maternal grandfather, Lewis M. Norton, developed the first course in chemical engineering at MIT in 1888.
The smaller-scale weather systems – mid-latitude depressions, or tropical convective cells – occur chaotically, and long-range weather predictions of those cannot be made beyond ten days in practice, or a month in theory (see chaos theory and the butterfly effect).
Butterfly effect image. The butterfly effect describes a phenomenon in chaos theory whereby a minor change in circumstances can cause a large change in outcome. The scientific concept is attributed to Edward Lorenz, a mathematician and meteorologist who used the metaphor to describe his research findings related to chaos theory and weather prediction, [1] [2] initially in a 1972 paper titled ...
Popular examples of the Mandela effect. Here are some Mandela effect examples that have confused me over the years — and many others too. Grab your friends and see which false memories you may ...
Chaos: Making a New Science is a debut non-fiction book by James Gleick that initially introduced the principles and early development of the chaos theory to the public. [1] It was a finalist for the National Book Award [ 2 ] and the Pulitzer Prize [ 3 ] in 1987, and was shortlisted for the Science Book Prize in 1989. [ 4 ]