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Edward Norton Lorenz

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Mathematician

The Resume

    (May 23, 1917-April 16, 2008)
    Born in West Hartford, Connecticut
    Meteorologist and mathematician
    Pioneer of chaos theory
    Published 'The Essence of Chaos' (1993)
    Coined the term 'butterfly effect' for the way small changes in the initial conditions of a complex system produce large changes in the final results
    Sometimes phrased as 'a butterfly flapping its wings in Brazil can set off a tornado in Texas'

Why he might be annoying:

    Many of his contributions to chaos theory had been predicted by Henri Poincare but ignored.
    Perhaps appropriately, his office was chaotic, with graduate students in the 1990s discovering a batch of unpublished papers dating to the 50s.
    The butterfly effect inspired a crappy Ashton Kutcher movie.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He was a weather forecaster for the US Army Air Corps in World War II.
    He was conducting research and publishing until a week before his death.
    He won the Kyoto Prize in basic science for producing 'one of the most dramatic changes in mankind's view of nature since Sir Isaac Newton.'

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 19 Votes: 5.26% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 5 Votes: 80.0% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 7 Votes: 42.86% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 7 Votes: 42.86% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 28 Votes: 67.86% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 23 Votes: 52.17% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 23 Votes: 52.17% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 15 Votes: 53.33% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 12 Votes: 58.33% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 15 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 22 Votes: 31.82% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 11 Votes: 45.45% Annoying