Edward Norton Lorenz, the father of chaos theory, died last wednessday. Lorenz was a mathematician and meteorologist who discovered chaos theory. Chaos theory implies that when you change one of the input parameters only slightly the outcome will be radically different. Images of Lorenz attractors show this principal. It projects two trajectories over time for two points that are very close to each other (the x-coordinate is changed only by 0.0001) however the trajectories will clearly start differentiating after some time. You can see this beautifully illustrated using a small Java applet draws the trajectories in different colors so you can see for yourself. Make sure you click on the “Rho=” in the applet. It will choose a new random value. Read the instructions for maximum understanding.

Lorenz is also known for coining “the butterfly effect”. A butterfly flapping its wings (a small change in input parameters) may cause (or prevent) a tornado in some other part of the world (radical different outcome). Lorenz discovery of the chaos theory shed new light in many areas of science. Lorenz’ contribution will not be forgotten. Rest in peace.

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