Edward Norton Lorenz
Edward Norton Lorenz | |
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Kevin E. Trenberth William D. Sellers |
Edward Norton Lorenz (May 23, 1917 – April 16, 2008) was an American mathematician and
His discovery of
Biographical information
Lorenz was born in 1917 in
Later in life, Lorenz lived in Cambridge, Massachusetts with his wife, Jane Loban, and their three children, Nancy, Cheryl, and Edward.[7] He was an avid outdoorsman, who enjoyed hiking, climbing, and cross-country skiing. He kept up with these pursuits until very late in his life. On April 16, 2008, Lorenz died at his home in Cambridge from cancer at the age of 90.[8]
Education
Lorenz received a bachelor's degree in mathematics from
His doctoral dissertation, titled "A Method of Applying the Hydrodynamic and Thermodynamic Equations to Atmospheric Models" and performed under advisor James Murdoch Austin, described an application of fluid dynamical equations to the practical problem of predicting the motion of storms.[9]
Scientific career
Lorenz spent the entirety of his scientific career at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 1948, he joined the MIT Department of Meteorology as a research scientist. In 1955, he became an assistant professor in the department and was promoted to professor in 1962. From 1977 to 1981, Lorenz served as head of the Department of Meteorology at MIT. In 1983, the MIT Department of Meteorology and Physical Oceanography merged with the Department of Geology to become the current MIT Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, where Lorenz remained a professor before becoming an emeritus professor in 1987.[10]
Atmospheric circulation
In the late 1940s and early 1950s, Lorenz worked with
Numerical weather prediction
In the 1950s, Lorenz became interested in and started work on
Chaos theory
In 1961, Lorenz was using a simple digital computer, a
Lorenz's discovery, which gave its name to
"Two states differing by imperceptible amounts may eventually evolve into two considerably different states ... If, then, there is any error whatever in observing the present state—and in any real system such errors seem inevitable—an acceptable prediction of an instantaneous state in the distant future may well be impossible....In view of the inevitable inaccuracy and incompleteness of weather observations, precise very-long-range forecasting would seem to be nonexistent."
His description of the butterfly effect, the idea that small changes can have large consequences, followed in 1969.[2][16][17][18][19][20][21]
In the book "The Essence of Chaos," in the chapter "Our Chaotic Weather" from 1993, authored by Edward Lorenz and Krzysztof Haman, the authors delved into the challenges of weather forecasting. The work discusses the consequences of chaos in the atmosphere and its impact on weather prediction. They describe a scenario in which meteorologists, in the computer age, generate multiple long-term weather forecasts based on different yet similar initial atmospheric conditions. Differences in the forecast results arise due to the sensitivity of the system to initial conditions. [22]
Lorenz's insights on deterministic chaos resonated widely starting in the 1970s and 80s, when it spurred new fields of study in virtually every branch of science, from biology to geology to physics. In meteorology, it led to the conclusion that it may be fundamentally impossible to predict weather beyond two or three weeks with a reasonable degree of accuracy. However, the recognition of chaos has led to improvements in weather forecasting, as now forecasters recognize that measurements are imperfect and thus run many simulations starting from slightly different conditions, called ensemble forecasting.[23]
Of the seminal significance of Lorenz's work, Kerry Emanuel, a prominent meteorologist and climate scientist at MIT, has stated:[8]
"By showing that certain deterministic systems have formal predictability limits, Ed put the last nail in the coffin of the Cartesian universe and fomented what some have called the third scientific revolution of the 20th century, following on the heels of relativity and quantum physics."
Late in his career, Lorenz began to be recognized with international accolades for the importance of his work on deterministic chaos. In 1983, along with colleague
Legacy
Lorenz is remembered by colleagues and friends for his quiet demeanor, gentle humility, and love of nature.
The Lorenz Center
In 2011, The Lorenz Center, a climate think tank devoted to fundamental scientific inquiry, was founded at
Centenary celebration
In February 2018, The Edward Lorenz Center and Henry Houghton Fund hosted a symposium, named MIT on Chaos and Climate, in honor of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Lorenz and
Publications
Lorenz published many books and articles, a selection of which can be found below. A more complete list can be found on the Lorenz Center website: link Archived 2019-04-05 at the Wayback Machine
- 1955 Available potential energy and the maintenance of the general circulation. Tellus. Vol. 7; 2. Link
- 1963 Deterministic nonperiodic flow. Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences. Vol. 20: 130–141. Link.
- 1967 The nature and theory of the general circulation of atmosphere. World Meteorological Organization. Vol. 218. Link
- 1969 Three approaches to atmospheric predictability. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. Vol. 50; 345–349. Link
- 1972 Predictability: Does the Flap of a Butterfly's Wings in Brazil Set Off a Tornado in Texas? American Association for the Advancement of Sciences; 139th meeting. Link Archived 2013-06-12 at the Wayback Machine
- 1976 Nondeterministic theories of climate change. Quaternary Research. Vol. 6. Link
- 1990 Can chaos and intransitivity lead to interannual variability? Tellus. Vol. 42A. Link
- 2005 Designing Chaotic Models. Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences. Vol. 62, No. 5: 1574–1587. Link
Awards
- 1969 Carl-Gustaf Rossby Research Medal, American Meteorological Society.
- 1973 Symons Gold Medal, Royal Meteorological Society.
- 1975 Fellow, National Academy of Sciences(U.S.A.).
- 1981 Member, Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters.
- 1983 Crafoord Prize, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
- 1984 Honorary Member, Royal Meteorological Society.
- 1989 The Franklin Institute
- 1991 Kyoto Prize for ... his boldest scientific achievement in discovering "deterministic chaos".
- 1992 Roger Revelle Medal
- 2000 International Meteorological Organization Prize from World Meteorological Organization
- 2004 Buys Ballot Medal of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.
- 2004 Lomonosov Gold Medal of the Russian Academy of Sciences
- 2008 Felice Pietro Chisesi e Caterina Tomassoni award
See also
References
- .
- ^ .
- ^ Motter A. E. and Campbell D. K. (2013). Chaos at fifty, Physics Today 66(5), 27-33.
- ^ Kenneth Chang (2008-04-17). "Edward N. Lorenz, a Meteorologist and a Father of Chaos Theory, Dies at 90". The New York Times. Retrieved 2019-04-01.
- ^ "Lorenz Receives 1991 Kyoto Prize". MIT News Office. 1991. Archived from the original on September 23, 2008.
- ^ Emanuel, Kerry (2011). Edward Norton Lorenz (1917-2008) (PDF). Washington, D.C.: National Academy of Sciences. p. 4.
- ^ a b Kenneth Chang (2008-04-17). "Edward N. Lorenz, a Meteorologist and a Father of Chaos Theory, Dies at 90". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-05-01.
- ^ a b c "Edward Lorenz, father of chaos theory, dies at age 90". CNN.[dead link]
- hdl:1721.1/44688.
- ^ "Edward Lorenz, father of chaos theory and butterfly effect, dies at 90" (PDF). MIT Tech Talk. 2008-04-30. Retrieved 2019-04-01.
- ^ "The Nature and Theory of the General Circulation of the Atmosphere" (PDF). World Meteorological Organization. 1967.
- ^ a b c Emanuel, Kerry (2011). Edward Norton Lorenz (1917-2008) (PDF). Washington, D.C.: National Academy of Sciences. p. 4.
- ^ a b c Lauren Hinkel (31 October 2018). "MIT Celebrates the Science of Jule Charney and Ed Lorenz". The Lorenz Center. Cambridge, MA. Archived from the original on 3 April 2019. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
- ^ .
- ISBN 978-0-434-29554-8.
- ^ Edward N. Lorenz (1969). "Atmospheric predictability as revealed by naturally occurring analogues". .
- .
- ^ Lorenz, Edward (1972-12-29). "Does the flap of a butterfly's wings in Brazil set off a tornado in Texas?" (PDF). MIT.
- ISSN 0040-2826.
- ^ Sokol, Joshua (2019-05-20). "The Hidden Heroines of Chaos". Quanta Magazine. Retrieved 2021-10-23.
- ISSN 2673-8392.
- ^ Lorenz, Edward N.; Haman, K. (1996). "The essence of chaos". Pure and Applied Geophysics. 147 (3). Basel, Birkhauser Verlag: 598–599.
- ^ "When the Butterfly Effect Took Flight". MIT Technology Review. Archived from the original on 2017-03-27. Retrieved 2019-04-03.
- ^ Maggie Fox, Eric Walsh (2008). "Edward Lorenz, father of chaos theory, dead at 90". Reuters.
- ^ "Tomassoni awards". Dipartimento di Fisica, Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza". Archived from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2013-12-13.
- ^ Josh Kastorf. "Weather and Chaos: The Work of Edward N. Lorenz".
- ^ "The Lorenz Center About Us".
- ^ "Celebrating the Science of Jule Charney and Ed Lorenz". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2021-12-13.
External links
- "Weather and Chaos: The Work of Edward N. Lorenz," 2018
- Video clip of Edward N. Lorenz speaking at the International Conference on Complex Systems, hosted by the New England Complex Systems Institute (NECSI)
- Obituary, The Daily Telegraph, 18 April 2008.
- Kerry Emanuel, "Edward Norton Lorenz", Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences (2011)