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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapters 5-6.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is a branch of physics which employs mathematical models and abstractions of physics to rationalize, explain and predict natural phenomena?
(a) Bifurcation theory.
(b) Theoretical physics.
(c) Thermodynamics.
(d) Fluid dynamics.

2. What refers to the sensitive dependence on initial conditions; where a small change at one place in a nonlinear system can result in large differences to a later state?
(a) Hummingbird effect.
(b) Kangaroo effect.
(c) Pufferfish effect.
(d) Butterfly effect.

3. When was Thomas S. Kuhn born?
(a) 1907.
(b) 1922.
(c) 1912.
(d) 1915.

4. Where was Thomas S. Kuhn born?
(a) Cincinnati, Ohio.
(b) Anchorage, Alaska.
(c) Omaha, Nebraska.
(d) Spearfish, South Dakota.

5. In Chapter 2, "Revolution," Gleick writes that the only problem with studying and experimenting with a new science is what?
(a) All the work is yet to be done.
(b) It requires a new language.
(c) There are no rules.
(d) No one will understand it.

Short Answer Questions

1. James Yorke realized that one of the largest problems with his work was that mathematicians and physicists were often worlds apart because they did not what?

2. According to Gleick in Chapter 3, "Life's Ups and Downs," what will cause the idealized population to end up at the lower level?

3. What concept originated by Thomas S. Kuhn refers to the routine work of scientists experimenting within a paradigm, slowly accumulating detail in accord with established broad theory and not actually challenging or attempting to test the underlying assumptions of that theory?

4. What is a description of a system using mathematical concepts and language?

5. When was Steven Smale born?

(see the answer key)

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