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According to an excellent ThinkQuest site in our Chaos Theory category, this mathematical field of study attempts to "explain the fact that complex and unpredictable results can and will occur in systems that are sensitive to their initial conditions." Such systems include weather patterns, the stock market, fractals, and planetary physics. The classic paradigm of chaos theory is the Butterfly Effect -- a butterfly in China flutters its wings, which triggers a huge, complex series of events that results in a tornado
in Texas. Chaos Theory explores how a tiny aberration in initial conditions can drastically change the long-term behavior of a non-linear, dynamic system. In mathematics, chaotic systems aren't random -- they're just very hard to predict. Like any branch of higher mathematics, Chaos is pretty complex. For further reading on the subject, we suggest Professor Matthew Trump's excellent "What is Chaos? A five-part online course for everyone."
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