Two Kinds of Catastrophe; Invariants and Homeomorphs; Finesse; The Languid Fire Summary

These four chapters form the resolution and denoument of all conflicts within the novel. The section begins with Hope explaining catastrophe theory, a study of abrupt change, stating that there are actually seven types of such events. One type is the "fold catastrophe," caused by one event and unable to be undone or reversed. The popping of a balloon, for example, is a fold catastrophe. Life, she states is filled with fold catastrophes, controlled by the single event, time. "Cusp catastrophes," on the other hand, are reversible. Illnesses, nervous breakdowns and injuries, for example, are cusp catastrophes. John Clearwater has had his share of both. He is at East Knap and is now working on topology, or the study of things that remain...