Ask the Chatbot Games & Quizzes ProCon History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture Money Videos
complexity
Table of Contents
References & Edit History Related Topics
Images
weather model of Edward Lorenz Computer interface for an artificial stock marketNotice that when “Offers” (to sell) exceed “Bids” (to buy) in the “Volume” window a market crash occurs, as indicated in the “Market” window by the “Price” line dropping below the “Dividend“ value (indicated in gray). Thursday night attendance at the El Farol Bar in Santa Fe, New MexicoEconomist W. Brian Arthur plotted the attendance of 100 possible Irish-music lovers over 100 weeks. No music lover would attend if he or she predicted that the crowd would exceed 60 (the “threshold”). Over time, the number of attendees, which appears to be a random (or chaotic) sequence, fluctuates around the threshold.
Related Questions
Read Next
Highway Night Traffic Portland, drive, driving, car, automobile.
What's the Difference Between Speed and Velocity?
Above the clouds 130 nautical miles below, astronaut Mark C. Lee floats freely without tethers as he tests the new Simplified Aid for Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Spacewalk Rescue (SAFER) system, Sept. 16, 1994. Space Shuttle Discovery, STS-64
Gravity: From Apples to the Universe
Discover
Title: Senate Square, St. Petersburg, December 14, 1825: repression of the troop mutiny - watercolor by Carl Ivanovitch Kollman, 1825 depicts Decembrist uprising clashing with cavalry, with spectators watching. (new style December 26, 1825) Europe. Saint
8 of the Largest Empires in History
Close up of books. Stack of books, pile of books, literature, reading. Homepage 2010, arts and entertainment, history and society
12 Novels Considered the “Greatest Book Ever Written”
Rural Irish landscape, Sligo, Ireland.
Why Is Ireland Two Countries?
Iraqi Army Soldiers from the 9th Mechanized Division learning to operate and maintain M1A1 Abrams Main Battle Tanks at Besmaya Combat Training Center, Baghdad, Iraq, 2011. Military training. Iraq war. U.S. Army
8 Deadliest Wars of the 21st Century
Santa Claus flying in his sleigh, christmas, reindeer
Was Santa Claus a Real Person?
Los Angeles Police Department wanted flyer on Elizabeth Short, aka the "Black Dahlia," who was brutally murdered in January 1947. The FBI supported the Los Angeles Police Department in the case, including by identifying Short through her fingerprints that
America’s 5 Most Notorious Cold Cases (Including One You May Have Thought Was Already Solved)
The Cheshire Cat is a fictional cat from Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. (Alice in Wonderland)
11 Banned Books Through Time

complexity: Related Content

verifiedCite
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style
Share
Share to social media
URL
https://www.britannica.com/facts/complexity-scientific-theory
Written and fact-checked by
The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

The Information Architects maintain a master list of the topics included in the corpus of  Encyclopædia Britannica, and create and manage the relationships between them.
The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Photos

weather model of Edward Lorenz
Computer interface for an artificial stock marketNotice that when “Offers” (to sell) exceed “Bids” (to buy) in the “Volume” window a market crash occurs, as indicated in the “Market” window by the “Price” line dropping below the “Dividend“ value (indicated in gray).
Thursday night attendance at the El Farol Bar in Santa Fe, New MexicoEconomist W. Brian Arthur plotted the attendance of 100 possible Irish-music lovers over 100 weeks. No music lover would attend if he or she predicted that the crowd would exceed 60 (the “threshold”). Over time, the number of attendees, which appears to be a random (or chaotic) sequence, fluctuates around the threshold.
See All Images →

Related Topics and References

Topics

Key People

John Henry Holland
American mathematician
Edward Lorenz
American meteorologist and mathematician