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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.
Short Answer Questions
1. Although James Yorke was a brilliant mathematician, he often referred to himself as what?
2. What did Foucault use as a way to demonstrate the earth's rotation, according to the author in Chapter 2, "Revolution"?
3. From what institution did Thomas S. Kuhn earn his B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in physics?
4. What refers to the sensitive dependence on initial conditions; where a small change at one place in a nonlinear system can result in large differences to a later state?
5. When was Edward Lorenz born?
Short Essay Questions
1. Describe the weather simulator discussed in Chapter 1, "The Butterfly Effect." What weather conditions did it create?
2. 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?
3. How did the role of chaos theory affect ecologists in the 1970s as described in Chapter 3, "Life's Ups and Downs"?
4. How is James Yorke described in Chapter 3, "Life's Ups and Downs"? What term did he coin?
5. How did Lorenz's work influence James Yorke in Chapter 3, "Life's Ups and Downs"?
6. How did Benoit Mandelbrot describe the ideal data source in Chapter 4, "A Geometry of Nature"?
7. What variable changed the outcome in the experiment described by Thomas S. Kuhn in Chapter 2, "Revolution"?
8. What did Benoit Mandelbrot and Hendrik Houthakker agree on about the chart in Chapter 4, "A Geometry of Nature"?
9. What impact did The Structure of Scientific Revolutions have on the scientific community? What did Kuhn assert in the book?
10. What two technologies contributed to the development of global forecasting in Chapter 1, "The Butterfly Effect"?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
Discuss Mitchell Feigenbaum's history, education and work. What are Feigenbaum constants and when were they discovered?
Essay Topic 2
Discuss the contributions of Jerry Gollub in nonlinear and non-equilibrium phenomena. How are these terms defined and how are experiments conducted?
Essay Topic 3
Describe Hendrik Houthakker, his work at Harvard University, and his reasons for inviting Benoit Mandelbrot to speak. What did Houthakker teach?
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This section contains 891 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) |
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