Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Monday, August 18, 2008
Chaos Theory -- Part 1
Introduction:
I'm currently reading James Gleick's best-selling book in 1987, Chaos: Making A New Science, and chaos theory has become an increasingly popular metaphor in management literature, regarded as the "new science" of administration. While Gleick did not invent the idea of chaos, nor did he contribute to its scientific principles, he did help lift it from obscurity in the pages of scientific journals and put it into the mainstream.
Butterfly Effect:
A meteorologist, named Edward Lorenz, proved the butterfly effect in 1961. The amount of difference in the starting points of the two curves is so small that it is comparable to a butterfly flapping its wings.
The flapping of a single butterfly's wing today produces a tiny change in the state of the atmosphere. Over a period of time, what the atmosphere actually does diverges from what it would have done. So, in a month's time, a tornado that would have devastated the Indonesian coast doesn't happen. Or maybe one that wasn't going to happen, does.
The Butterfly Effect acquired a technical name: sensitive dependence on initial conditions. And sensitive dependence on initial conditions was not an altogether new notion. It had a place in folklore:
"For want of a nail, the shoe was lost;
For want of a shoe, the horse was lost;
For want of a horse, the rider was lost;
For want of a rider, the battle was lost;
For want of a battle, the kingdom was lost!"
In science as in life, it is well known that a chain of events can have a point of crisis that could magnify small changes. But chaos meant that such points were everywhere. They were pervasive. In systems like the weather, sensitive dependence on initial conditions was an inescapable consequence of the way small scales intertwined with large.
I'm currently reading James Gleick's best-selling book in 1987, Chaos: Making A New Science, and chaos theory has become an increasingly popular metaphor in management literature, regarded as the "new science" of administration. While Gleick did not invent the idea of chaos, nor did he contribute to its scientific principles, he did help lift it from obscurity in the pages of scientific journals and put it into the mainstream.
Butterfly Effect:
A meteorologist, named Edward Lorenz, proved the butterfly effect in 1961. The amount of difference in the starting points of the two curves is so small that it is comparable to a butterfly flapping its wings.
The flapping of a single butterfly's wing today produces a tiny change in the state of the atmosphere. Over a period of time, what the atmosphere actually does diverges from what it would have done. So, in a month's time, a tornado that would have devastated the Indonesian coast doesn't happen. Or maybe one that wasn't going to happen, does.
The Butterfly Effect acquired a technical name: sensitive dependence on initial conditions. And sensitive dependence on initial conditions was not an altogether new notion. It had a place in folklore:
"For want of a nail, the shoe was lost;
For want of a shoe, the horse was lost;
For want of a horse, the rider was lost;
For want of a rider, the battle was lost;
For want of a battle, the kingdom was lost!"
In science as in life, it is well known that a chain of events can have a point of crisis that could magnify small changes. But chaos meant that such points were everywhere. They were pervasive. In systems like the weather, sensitive dependence on initial conditions was an inescapable consequence of the way small scales intertwined with large.
....to be continued
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Saving Lives in the Swimming Pool
Strolling the backyard has been a morning routine since my retirement. Smelling the jasmine and listening to the birds chirping aren't all I do. Refilling the water into the pool and using leaf skimmer to lift up debris and/or worms become chores. You'll be surprised how many lives I have saved. Sometime it mounts up to 10 plus. Today, one bee and a worm got picked up to the pool side and jumped right back into the pool water in no time. It reminds me of what we understand the moth's suicidal for the fire, which is his duty-bound mission in his life span. As for our human body, we are repeating the same scenario day in and day out without knowing it. The first Noble Truth from Buddha Sakyamuni explained to us "Life entails suffering" and "suffering stops when attachment does".
佛寶歌
人天長夜，宇宙黮闇，誰啟以光明？
三界火宅，眾苦煎迫，誰濟以安寧？
Thursday, August 14, 2008
A Small Gathering at Jenny Van's House
To Welcome May's visit from Taiwan, we girls had a charming time together at Jenny's house. Jenny(史屏華) was my elementary school classmate and we picked up our acquaintances at 30-years-high-school reunion 6 years ago. This was my first time visit her house in Irvine. She is still the same demure, feminine lady as I remembered.
Eight of us are all from the same high school, different classes though. We still shared a bunch of stories from old times. May(何美頤) told us some behind-the-scene episodes of President Ma(小馬哥) in Taiwan. All the husbands formed their own ring of talks. And don't forget to mention the delicious meals, plus yummy deserts. I had a blast at the get-together.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Thursday, August 7, 2008
PHOTOS: Solar Eclipse Seen Around the World August 1
Get a global view of the rare solar eclipse witnessed by a small fraction of humanity around the world on August 1. Check out this!
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