posted 04-16-2008 06:15 PM               

News.com.au: Father of chaos theory dies

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Edward Lorenz, the father of chaos theory, who showed how small actions could lead to major changes in what became known as the "butterfly effect," died of cancer on Wednesday at the age of 90, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology said.

Professor Lorenz, a meteorologist, figured out in the 1960s that small differences in a dynamic system such as the atmosphere could set off enormous changes. In 1972 he presented a study entitled Predictability: Does the Flap of a Butterfly's Wings in Brazil Set Off a Tornado in Texas?

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