Dartblog

Dartblog regrets to report the passing of esteemed mathematician Edward Norton Lorenz ‘38, a pioneer in the branch of mathematics called “Chaos Theory.” He was 90 years old.

Chaos Theory is the study of “chaotic dynamical systems.” These are systems whose conditions through time are described by complicated things called non-linear differential equations. They have the fascinating property that a tiny, seemingly negligible change in the initial state of the system can cause the system to display wildly different behavior through time—so much so that the system appears random. This is “deterministic chaos.”

The most famous example of a chaotic system is the weather. The weather is so chaotic that whether or not a butterfly flaps its wings in Brazil, it is said, can influence whether or not there will be a tornado in Texas the following week. This is the popular butterfly effect—a term Dr. Lorenz coined.

Following in Dr. Lorenz’s footsteps, there is a new course at Dartmouth on chaotic systems. Math 53: Chaos! is the only course in the entire curriculum with an exclamation point in its name.