%0 Book Section %B (Preprint) Originally published in World of Physics. Thomson | Gale. 2001. Updated and republished in Brenda Wilmoth Lerner and K. Lee Lerner, eds. Scientific Thought, Cengage | Gale. 2010. %D 2010 %T Chaos and Order %A K.Lee Lerner %X

Chaos and order, as used in chaos theory, are terms used to describe conditions of complex systems in which, out of seemingly random, disordered (aperiodic) processes, there arise processes that are deterministic and predictable. Accordingly, despite its name, chaos theory attempts to identify and quantify order in apparently unpredictable systems.

 

Along with quantum and relativity theories, chaos theory, with its inclusive concepts of chaos and order, is widely regarded as one of the great intellectual leaps of the twentieth century. (continued) %B (Preprint) Originally published in World of Physics. Thomson | Gale. 2001. Updated and republished in Brenda Wilmoth Lerner and K. Lee Lerner, eds. Scientific Thought, Cengage | Gale. 2010. %I Cengage | Gale %G eng