Saturday, November 7, 2009

My butterfly...


Does a butterfly know that it means a lot to a scientist? Is there anything more to its wings apart from those alluring colors? Well, it’s time we give the butterfly a higher stature!!
"The wing movements of a butterfly might have significant repercussions on wind strength and movements throughout the weather systems of the world, and theoretically, could cause tornadoes halfway around the world."
Thanks to Edward Lorenz, a mathematician and a meteorologist, for his work in establishing “the butter fly effect” on the background of “chaos theory”. What has this effect got to do with us? The very word “effect” as the dictionary says, means, “ a change, reaction or a result that is caused by something". A very tiny variation (as is the motion of the wings of a butterfly), can bring about a significant change in the giant and complex systems. Being more scientific, small variation of the initial conditions of a dynamical system may produce large variations in the long term behaviour of the system. Talking in our terms, a very small change that one comes across may render ones behaviour unpredictable. Small, yet significant happenings bring about a change, this change is easily brought about as the energies converse as we say.This in turn sounds as if it is crying aloud "everything is related to the other", now let this not drag us into ecology, influenced by our very own theory!
A firm faith in the significant effects that a small change can bring about, is a thinker's thought, a socialiser’s hope, a realtor’s tact, a director’s point and a leader’s goal. Science works miracles everywhere.
May the fragrance of science and humanities being cultivated in the wet soils hang in the air, as the small things continue to make wonders.

No comments: