CHAOS THEORY
The multi-disciplinary field of study known as Chaos theory has lead to a deeper understanding of complex physical phenomena and is shaping the way scientists view the natural world. As a description of the complex, systematic behavior of nature, Chaos theory reveals an underlying patter and order that is hidden in natural phenomena that before were considered to be merely random (e.g., the turbulent flow of air over the wing of an airplane). Chaos emerged in a strange and beautiful way in non-linear mathematics. Computer-generated fractal images provide a window into a world of complex beauty never before seen by the human eye. In these delicate, complicated structures we can see reflected an image of the material world.

Chaos, as understood by natural scientists, is deterministic or ordered randomness. This leads to some interesting questions: what is randomness? how can something which is random also be ordered? Chaos theory is fundamentally a theory about how well we can know natural phenomena. To determine the orbit of a planet in Newtonian mechanics we must have detailed information about the planet's position and velocity at a certain time. We also must know the positions and velocities of other bodies in the planet's gravitation field. Myriad factors affect the course of a planet. We can only calculate the orbit to the accuracy of our knowledge of all the factors which affect it. The slightest errors in our knowledge prevent us from predicting the exact course of the planet. The deviation of the planet from the calculated orbit is the signature of chaos--a fundamental sensitivity on the part of physical systems to their initial conditions.

From the complexity of large scaled classical phenomena to the curious structure of fractals, Chaos theory allows us to recognize order where before we had only seen disorder.

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