View a FREE sample

This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapters 3-4.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Where was Hendrik Houthakker born?
(a) London.
(b) Amsterdam.
(c) Moscow.
(d) Prague.

2. What is the mathematical study of changes in the qualitative or topological structure of a given family, such as the integral curves of a family of vector fields, and the solutions of a family of differential equations?
(a) Bifurcation theory.
(b) Fluid dynamics.
(c) Theoretical physics.
(d) Thermodynamics.

3. Where is the European Center for Medium Range Forecasts headquartered?
(a) Berlin, Germany.
(b) Dublin, Ireland.
(c) Paris, France.
(d) Reading, England.

4. Robert May, like many before him, was confused by the changes when what was increased?
(a) Laminar flow.
(b) Gradient.
(c) Energy.
(d) A parameter.

5. In Chapter 3, "Life's Ups and Downs," Gleick writes, "In the emergence of chaos as a new science in the 1970s, _____ were destined to play a special role."
(a) Ecologists.
(b) Paleontologists.
(c) Botanists.
(d) Geologists.

Short Answer Questions

1. What studies the behavior of dynamical systems that are highly sensitive to initial conditions?

2. What, according to the author, are created out of things that have come to an end?

3. What refers to a change in the basic assumptions within the ruling theory of science?

4. Although James Yorke was a brilliant mathematician, he often referred to himself as what?

5. In mathematics, what is a system which does not satisfy the superposition principle, or whose output is not directly proportional to its input?

(see the answer key)

This section contains 246 words (approx. 1 page at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample