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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What mathematical theorem states that every simply connected, closed 3-manifold is homeomorphic to the 3-sphere?
(a) Fractal compression.
(b) Poincare conjecture.
(c) Information theory.
(d) No-slip condition.

2. Where was James Yorke born?
(a) Flagstaff, Arizona.
(b) Portland, Oregon.
(c) Cheyenne, Wyoming.
(d) Plainfield, New Jersey.

3. What refers to a supercomputer manufacturer based in Seattle, Washington, and founded in 1972?
(a) Ting.
(b) Bend.
(c) Cray.
(d) More.

4. What refers to a change in the basic assumptions within the ruling theory of science?
(a) Fractal basin boundaries.
(b) Gradient.
(c) Theoretical physics.
(d) Paradigm shift.

5. What was the profession of Benoit Mandelbrot's mother?
(a) Housekeeper.
(b) Nurse.
(c) Writer.
(d) Dentist.

Short Answer Questions

1. What was the profession of Benoit Mandelbrot's father?

2. For what company had Benoit Mandelbrot been working in economics, studying distribution of various incomes in the economy when he was invited by Houthakker to speak at Harvard?

3. What was the name of the computer manufacturing and retail division of Royal Typewriter which made the early computers RPC 4000 and RPC 9000?

4. Who is attributed with the following quote in the beginning of Chapter 3, "Life's Ups and Downs": "The result of a mathematical development should be continuously checked against one's own intuition about what constitutes reasonable biological behavior"?

5. What is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the weather simulator discussed in Chapter 1, "The Butterfly Effect." What weather conditions did it create?

2. When and where was the National Meteorological Center founded in Chapter 1, "The Butterfly Effect"? What existed before it?

3. In Chapter 2, "Revolution" Gleick refers to the pendulum as being the laboratory mouse of chaos, the new science. What metaphorical examples does Gleick give for other great scientists in this chapter?

4. What two technologies contributed to the development of global forecasting in Chapter 1, "The Butterfly Effect"?

5. How did Lorenz develop ways to reproduce complex behavior in Chapter 1, "The Butterfly Effect"?

6. What variable changed the outcome in the experiment described by Thomas S. Kuhn in Chapter 2, "Revolution"?

7. How is Edward Lorenz described in Chapter 1, "The Butterfly Effect"? Where was he working at the time?

8. How did Lorenz's work influence James Yorke in Chapter 3, "Life's Ups and Downs"?

9. What were the biggest issues with weather forecasting during Lorenz's time as described in Chapter 1, "The Butterfly Effect"? How is the Butterfly Effect defined?

10. What was the early life of Benoit Mandelbrot like, as described by the author in Chapter 4, "A Geometry of Nature"?

(see the answer keys)

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