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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. What is the mathematical study of changes in the qualitative or topological structure of a given family, such as the integral curves of a family of vector fields, and the solutions of a family of differential equations?

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

3. When was Edward Lorenz born?

4. Where is the European Center for Medium Range Forecasts headquartered?

5. James Yorke is credited with creating what term in reference to science?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. 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?

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

4. How is James Yorke described in Chapter 3, "Life's Ups and Downs"? What term did he coin?

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

6. 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?

7. What psychological experiment does Thomas S. Kuhn describe in Chapter 2, "Revolution"?

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

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

10. 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?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe and discuss the psychological experiment described by Thomas S. Kuhn in Chapter 2, "Revolution." What discoveries were made through the work?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the computer development of the 1960s and the Royal McBee computer used by Edward Lorenz. What did Lorenz develop to aid in computer analysis?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the history of chaos theory as it relates to the biological and ecological sciences. When and how did ecologists come to use chaos in their theories?

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