View a FREE sample

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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Where was Robert May born?
(a) Berlin, Germany.
(b) Tokyo, Japan.
(c) Sydney, Australia.
(d) Cairo, Egypt.

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?
(a) A higher parameter.
(b) A lower parameter.
(c) A multiplier parameter.
(d) A fraction parameter.

3. When was Benoit Mandelbrot born?
(a) 1876.
(b) 1941.
(c) 1900.
(d) 1924.

4. What work by Edward Lorenz greatly impacted the thinking of James Yorke, as described in Chapter 3, "Life's Ups and Downs"?
(a) "Physical Review Letters".
(b) "Period Three Implies Chaos".
(c) "Deterministic Nonperiodic Flow".
(d) "Fractals Everywhere".

5. In statistics, what refers to any statistical relationship between two random variables or two sets of data?
(a) Diversity.
(b) Dependence.
(c) Prediction.
(d) Commonality.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is a branch of physics which employs mathematical models and abstractions of physics to rationalize, explain and predict natural phenomena?

2. Robert May, like many before him, was confused by the changes when what was increased?

3. When was Edward Lorenz born?

4. In Chapter 2, "Revolution," Gleick writes that the only problem with studying and experimenting with a new science is what?

5. Who is quoted in Chapter 1, "The Butterfly Effect" as saying "Physicists like to think that all you have to do is say, these are the conditions, now what happens next?"

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

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

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

6. What role do computers and mathematical equations play in ecology and biology as described in Chapter 3, "Life's Ups and Downs"?

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

8. 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?

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

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

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 947 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample