Chaos, Fractals and Ecology

Abstract

Chaos theory is concerned with unpredictable courses of events. The irregular and unpredictable time evolution of many non-linear and complex linear systems has been named ‘chaos’. It is a science of the global nature of systems and it has brought together scientists from fields that had been widely separated. It makes strong claims about the universal behaviour of complexity. It occurs in mechanical oscillators such as pendular or vibrating objects, in rotating or heated fluids, in laser cavities, in some chemical reactions, and in biological systems. The most fascinated advocates of this new science go so far as to say that this century’s science will be remembered for three things: relativity theory, quantum mechanics and chaos theory. Relativity has eliminated the Newtonian illusion of absolute space and time, while quantum theory has eliminated the Newtonian dream of controllable measurements. Chaos theory has eliminated the Laplacian illusion of deterministic predictability and can therefore be conceived as a ticking timebomb under reductionistic science.