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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. In Chapter 2, "Revolution," the author writes, "Professional scientists, given brief, uncertain glimpses of nature's workings, are no less vulnerable to anguish and confusion when they come face to face with" _______________?

2. In what year did Benoit Mandelbrot recognize the ghost of an idea when he spotted a diagram charted out on the blackboard in Hendrik Houthakker's office?

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

4. When was James Yorke born?

5. One of the implications of what theorem is that if a continuous discrete dynamical system on the real line has a periodic point of period 3, then it must have periodic points of every other period?

Short Essay Questions

1. How did the role of chaos theory affect ecologists in the 1970s as described in Chapter 3, "Life's Ups and Downs"?

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

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

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

5. 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?

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

7. 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?

8. In Chapter 3, "Life's Ups and Downs," one of the biggest questions came to be how different parameters affected the ultimate destiny of a changing population. What was the answer to this?

9. 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?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe Benoit Mandelbrot's work for International Business Machines Corporation. When was IBM founded and how was Mandelbrot involved in its evolution?

Essay Topic 2

Compare and contrast the differences and similarities of theorists and experimenters. How does each rely on the other for progress to be made?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss Albert Libchaber's major contributions in experimental condensed matter physics. How did his discoveries relate to the Rayleigh-Benard systems?

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