2005-01-11

Chaos Theory and Fractals

Chaos Theory and Fractals: "Edward Lorenz

During the 1960's Edward Lorenz was a meteorologist at MIT working on a project to simulate weather patterns on a computer. He accidentally stumbled upon the butterfly effect after deviations in calculations off by thousandths greatly changed the simulations. The Butterfly Effect reflects how changes on the small scale affect things on the large scale. It is the classic example of chaos, as small changes lead to large changes. An example of this is how a butterfly flapping its wings in Hong Kong could change tornado patterns in Texas. Lorenz also discovered the Lorenz Attractor, an area that pulls points towards itself. He did so during a 3D weather simulation.

The Lorenz Attractor

The Lorenz Attractor"

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