MLA 31500

Natural Sciences Elective

Order and Chaos in the Natural World

Spring Quarter 2008

CLASS NOTES

TENTH CLASS

June 14, 2008

READING: STEWART, CHAPTER 14: BEYOND THE BUTTERFLY & CHAPTER 15: VON NEUMANN’S DREAM

The following are questions to be considered for the general discussion with which we will conclude the course.

1. How might we define or describe chaos? What are some of the manifestations of chaotic behavior in dynamical systems?

2. How has the study of chaos altered the landscape of science? Have the laws of physics and chemistry changed? The principles of ecology? What is it that has changed?

3. What is the role of mathematics in the study of the natural sciences? Of computation? Have these roles been altered by the study of chaotic behavior?

4. How do we learn things about the natural world?

5. Are causal connections or patterns more important in the study of chaotic behavior?

6. Is chaotic behavior a single, universal phenomenon? Is there a universal route to chaos in a physical system? Just what is universal about chaotic behavior?

LINKS:

Return to Course Page: mla315spring2008.htm

Return to Peter Vandervoort's Home Page: pov.html

Go to the home page of the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics

of the University of Chicago: http://astro.uchicago.edu/