Sea gulls, butterflies, and grasshoppers: A brief history of the butterfly effect in nonlinear dynamics
Abstract
The butterfly effect has become a popular metaphor for sensitive dependence on initial conditions—the hallmark of chaotic behavior. I describe how, where, and when this term was conceived in the 1970s. Surprisingly, the butterfly metaphor was predated by more than 70 years by the grasshopper effect.
- Publication:
-
American Journal of Physics
- Pub Date:
- April 2004
- DOI:
- 10.1119/1.1636492
- Bibcode:
- 2004AmJPh..72..425H
- Keywords:
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- 05.45.-a;
- 47.52.+j;
- 01.65.+g;
- Nonlinear dynamics and chaos;
- Chaos in fluid dynamics;
- History of science