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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) Information theory.
(c) Poincare conjecture.
(d) No-slip condition.

2. What is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language?
(a) Biology.
(b) Meteorology.
(c) Information theory.
(d) Philosophy.

3. Where is the main laboratory for the Thomas J. Watson Research Center?
(a) Yorktown Heights, New York.
(b) Chicago, Illinois.
(c) Indianapolis, Indiana.
(d) Cherry Hill, New Jersey.

4. In Chapter 4, "A Geometry of Nature," Houthakker explained to Mandelbrot the diagram in his office represented eight years of what?
(a) Almond prices.
(b) Corn prices.
(c) Cotton prices.
(d) Wheat prices.

5. What did Foucault use as a way to demonstrate the earth's rotation, according to the author in Chapter 2, "Revolution"?
(a) A softball.
(b) A twenty-story high pendulum.
(c) A six-foot wide magnifying glass.
(d) A turkey baster.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services?

2. 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"?

3. According to Gleick in Chapter 3, "Life's Ups and Downs," what will lead to an increased, steady state in the idealized population?

4. What can be formed by taking a finite Cartesian product of the Cantor set with itself, making it a Cantor space?

5. Where was Benoit Mandelbrot born?

Short Essay Questions

1. What did Benoit Mandelbrot and Hendrik Houthakker agree on about the chart in Chapter 4, "A Geometry of Nature"?

2. What led to Benoit Mandelbrot's epiphany in Chapter 4, "A Geometry of Nature"? Where was Benoit Mandelbrot working at the time?

3. What did Edward Lorenz develop in order to assist in working with computer technology in Chapter 1, "The Butterfly Effect"? How did he feel about the future of forecasting?

4. Who is quoted discussing nonlinear problems in Chapter 3, "Life's Ups and Downs"?

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

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

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

8. How is a Cantor set described in Chapter 4, "A Geometry of Nature"?

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. How is the relationship between meteorologists and computers described in Chapter 1, "The Butterfly Effect"?

(see the answer keys)

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