Introduction: The Secret Life of Chaos (02:52)

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Physicist Jim Al-Khalili talks about the simplicity of human life. The question of creation has been an interest for scientists for years.

Natural World (08:30)

Though the natural world seems to be made out of chaos, there are mathematical rules behind it. Mathematics was first applied to it by Alan Turing. He wanted to apply mathematics to biological processes.

Morphogenesis (04:11)

Turing's paper provided a mechanism for understanding and explaining morphogenesis. It expanded on Darwin's work on evolution and genetics.

Boris Belousov (06:26)

Russian chemist Boris Belousov was conducting similar work to Turing by applying chemistry to biology. He discovered something that seemed to break the laws of physics but followed Turing's equations.

Self-Organization (05:28)

Turing and Belousov's work was rejected during their times because the universe was viewed like a complicated machine that always followed a set of rules. Their work showed that the universe could not always be predicted.

Chaos (07:39)

Meteorologist Edward Lorenz made the scientific community accept the idea of chaos. The weather did not follow the mathematical equations it was thought to. It was known as the butterfly effect.

Patterns (08:39)

Though mathematical rules can be used for prediction, small changes can lead to feedback that creates chaos. It also produces patterns and a sense of order.

Mandelbrot Set (04:50)

The Mandelbrot set was created by Benoit Mandelbrot to show the mathematical patterns in nature. The complex image comes from a simple equation.

Evolution (10:05)

Evolution has built on patterns in the world and follows self-organizing principles. A computer uses the principles of evolution to update its systems.

Credits: The Secret Life of Chaos (00:54)

Credits: The Secret Life of Chaos