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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In mathematics, what is a system which does not satisfy the superposition principle, or whose output is not directly proportional to its input?
(a) Nonlinear system.
(b) Linear system.
(c) Hyperlinear system.
(d) Thermolinear system.

2. What does Gleick assert was the inspiration for Archimedes in Chapter 2, "Revolution"?
(a) A boulder.
(b) A tree.
(c) A bathtub.
(d) A snail.

3. In his paper, Kuhn argues that rival paradigms are ______, meaning that it is not possible to understand one paradigm through the conceptual framework and terminology of another rival paradigm.
(a) Incomprehensible.
(b) Incorrigible.
(c) Incommensurable.
(d) Indistinguishable.

4. What paper did James Yorke publish in 1975 concerning chaos?
(a) "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions."
(b) "Deterministic Nonperiodic Flow."
(c) "Physical Review Letters."
(d) "Period Three Implies Chaos."

5. Who is attributed with the following quote in Chapter 4, "A Geometry of Nature": "And yet relation appears, a small relation expanding like the shade of a cloud on sand, a shape on the side of the hill"?
(a) Wallace Stevens.
(b) Robert May.
(c) Enrico Fermi.
(d) James Yorke.

6. What is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services?
(a) Economics.
(b) Chaos theory.
(c) Physiology.
(d) Information theory.

7. The National Weather Service is one of the six scientific agencies that make up what division of the U.S. Government?
(a) The U.S. Navy.
(b) The U.S. Coast Guard.
(c) The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
(d) The Interior Department.

8. Who said that calling the study of chaos a nonlinear science was akin to calling zoology "the study of nonelephant animals" in Chapter 3, "Life's Ups and Downs"?
(a) Wallace Stevens.
(b) Harvey J. Gold.
(c) Stanislaw Ulam.
(d) Enrico Fermi.

9. 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) Thermodynamics.
(b) Bifurcation theory.
(c) Fluid dynamics.
(d) Theoretical physics.

10. In mathematics and statistics, a _____ is a quantity that serves to relate functions and variables using a common variable when such a relationship would be difficult to explicate with an equation.
(a) Fraction.
(b) Parameter.
(c) Paradigm.
(d) Divisor.

11. 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?
(a) Use the same equipment.
(b) Speak the same language.
(c) Follow the same rules.
(d) Report to work at the same time.

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

13. According to Gleick in Chapter 3, "Life's Ups and Downs," what will lead to an increased, steady state in the idealized population?
(a) A higher parameter.
(b) A fraction parameter.
(c) A multiplier parameter.
(d) A lower parameter.

14. When was Steven Smale born?
(a) 1932.
(b) 1930.
(c) 1943.
(d) 1938.

15. What was the name of the computer manufacturing and retail division of Royal Typewriter which made the early computers RPC 4000 and RPC 9000?
(a) Royal McBee.
(b) Royal Mathematics.
(c) Royal Information Systems.
(d) Royal Computing.

Short Answer Questions

1. In the 1950s and 1960s what two technologies were maturing together, according to the author in Chapter 1, "The Butterfly Effect"?

2. When was Thomas S. Kuhn born?

3. What is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy?

4. Where is Stephen Smale from?

5. When was Edward Lorenz born?

(see the answer keys)

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