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

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

4. Where is Stephen Smale from?

5. 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"?

Short Essay Questions

1. 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?

2. 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?

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

4. How did Benoit Mandelbrot describe the ideal data source in Chapter 4, "A Geometry of Nature"?

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

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

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

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

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

10. What impact did The Structure of Scientific Revolutions have on the scientific community? What did Kuhn assert in the book?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

Describe the early life of Benoit Mandelbrot and Mandelbrot's work as a mathematician. How did WWII affect the education Mandelbrot received?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the contributions of Jerry Gollub in nonlinear and non-equilibrium phenomena. How are these terms defined and how are experiments conducted?

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