Sad news from MIT. Edward Norton Lorenz, an MIT professor and meteorologist best known for developing what became known as the butterfly effect, died last Wednesday of cancer in his home in Cambridge. He was 90.
With every loss of a prominent scientist or doctor, the obituaries that follow are often exquisite examples of science writing. In the case of Lorenz, The Boston Globe delivers with a clear explanation of the effect chaos theory had on predictability and pop culture.
Ironically, Lorenz happened upon his observation of the butterfly effect by accident. (The term grew out of an academic paper he presented to the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1972. After consulting a friend, he entitled the talk: “Predictability: Does the Flap of a Butterfly’s Wings in Brazil Set Off a Tornado in Texas?“)
According to the Globe obituary, the butterfly effect refers to tiny changes that could have catastrophic, and often unpredictable consequences. “Exact measurement of all the conditions could be upset by one small event, such as the flap of a gossamer wing.”
Losing a member of the Boston science community not only gives us a moment to reflect on the scientist, but also on how their science affected us. Lorenz’s existence is indirectly responsible for television episodes, (e.g. The Simpsons, Family Guy, Scrubs) and movies, (e.g. The Butterfly Effect, Back to the Future, Run Lola Run ) that use time travel to explore how a small change in the past could affect the future.
He is also responsible for inciting quasi-philosophical inquiry. An anonymous writer from the It’s Over Nine Thousand blog, calls Lorenz a hero. The writer became interested in the butterfly effect and chaos theory as a kid, which had some interesting consequences.
“My science projects were all based off of Chaos Theory (resulting in quite a few failing grades I might add), and I remember getting into many arguments about the theory, not only with my science teachers, but my school principle when I was called down asking why I kept failing my assignments.”
One element of chaos theory holds true, while consequences may be random, there is a pattern. In the case of Lorenz, definable clusters of curiosity.
A memorial service for Edward Lorenz will be held today, April 20, 2008 at 3:00 p.m. at Swedenborg Chapel, 50 Quincy St., Cambridge.
Photo of Professor Lorenz provided by MIT.
April 20th, 2008 at 5:27 am
[...] Joseph published an entertaining and interesting post on MIT Professor and Father of Chaos Theory DiesSee below for a small excerpt of the post: [...]
April 20th, 2008 at 5:45 am
[...] or wish to see what they wrote about me, I urge you to check out their post. All you gotta do is click here. Similar Posts Edward Lorenz, father of chaos theory dies at the age of [...]