Edward Norton Lorenz facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Edward Norton Lorenz
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Edward Norton Lorenz
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| Born | May 23, 1917 West Hartford, Connecticut, United States
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| Died | April 16, 2008 (aged 90) Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
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| Alma mater | Dartmouth College (BA, 1938) Harvard University (MA, 1940) Massachusetts Institute of Technology (SM, 1943; ScD, 1948) |
| Known for | Chaos theory Butterfly effect Lorenz attractor Lorenz energy cycle Lorenz 96 model |
| Awards | Symons Gold Medal (1973) Crafoord Prize (1983) Kyoto Prize (1991) Roger Revelle Medal (1992) Lomonosov Gold Medal (2004) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Mathematics and Meteorology |
| Institutions | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| Thesis | A Method of Applying the Hydrodynamic and Thermodynamic Equations to Atmospheric Models (1948) |
| Doctoral advisor | James Murdoch Austin |
| Doctoral students | Kevin E. Trenberth William D. Sellers |
Edward Norton Lorenz (born May 23, 1917 – died April 16, 2008) was an American mathematician and weather scientist. He created the basic ideas for understanding how predictable weather and climate are. He also helped develop computer-based atmospheric physics and meteorology.
Lorenz is most famous for starting modern chaos theory. This part of mathematics studies how systems behave when they are very sensitive to tiny changes. His discovery of "deterministic chaos" changed how people saw nature. It was considered one of the biggest changes since Isaac Newton's time.
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About Edward Lorenz
Lorenz was born in 1917 in West Hartford, Connecticut. He loved science from a young age. His father was an engineer. His grandfather helped start chemical engineering at MIT. His mother taught him to love games, especially chess.
Later in life, Lorenz lived in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He lived there with his wife, Jane Loban, and their three children. He loved being outdoors. He enjoyed hiking, climbing, and cross-country skiing. He kept doing these activities even when he was very old. Lorenz passed away at home in Cambridge from cancer in 2008. He was 90 years old.
His Education and Early Career
Lorenz earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Dartmouth College in 1938. He then got a master's degree in mathematics from Harvard University in 1940. During World War II, he worked as a weather forecaster for the United States Air Force. This job made him want to study weather more deeply.
He went to the MIT for graduate school. He earned both a master's and a doctoral degree in meteorology from MIT. This was in 1943 and 1948. His doctoral paper was about using math to predict how storms move.
His Scientific Work
Edward Lorenz spent his entire scientific career at MIT. He joined the Meteorology Department in 1948 as a research scientist. He became a professor in 1962. From 1977 to 1981, he led the Meteorology Department. He became a professor emeritus in 1987.
Understanding Atmospheric Circulation
In the late 1940s and early 1950s, Lorenz worked on a project at MIT. He wanted to understand how weather systems affect the atmosphere's overall movement. In 1967, he published an important paper on atmospheric circulation. This paper introduced the idea of "available potential energy" in the atmosphere.
Predicting Weather with Computers
In the 1950s, Lorenz became interested in numerical weather prediction. This method uses computers to forecast weather. Computers process data like temperature, pressure, and wind. He visited the Institute for Advanced Study and met Jule Charney. Charney was a leading weather scientist.
Lorenz started leading a project at MIT in 1953. This project ran complex weather simulations. He used these to test different forecasting methods. By the late 1950s, Lorenz doubted if simple math models were good enough. This was because most weather events are not simple or "linear." It was during this time that he made his big discovery about "deterministic chaos."
Discovering Chaos Theory
In 1961, Lorenz was using a simple computer to simulate weather patterns. He was modeling 12 different things, like temperature and wind speed. He wanted to see a sequence of data again. To save time, he started the simulation in the middle. He typed in numbers from a printout of his earlier results.
To his surprise, the new weather prediction was completely different! The problem was a tiny difference in the numbers. The computer used 6 decimal places, but the printout only showed 3. So, a number like 0.506127 was printed as 0.506. This tiny change, which seemed unimportant, led to huge differences in the long-term results.
Lorenz's discovery showed that even very detailed weather models cannot make perfect long-term predictions. His work, helped by Ellen Fetter, led to his famous 1963 paper. This paper, "Deterministic Nonperiodic Flow," started chaos theory.
He later described the butterfly effect in 1969. This idea means that very small changes can have very large and unexpected consequences. For example, a butterfly flapping its wings in Brazil could cause a tornado in Texas.
Lorenz's ideas about chaos became widely known in the 1970s and 80s. They led to new studies in almost every science, from biology to physics. In weather forecasting, it meant that predicting weather beyond two or three weeks might be impossible. However, understanding chaos has improved weather forecasts. Forecasters now know that measurements are never perfect. So, they run many simulations starting with slightly different conditions. This is called ensemble forecasting.
Later in his career, Lorenz received many international awards. In 1983, he won the Crafoord Prize. This prize is almost as important as a Nobel Prize. He also received the Kyoto Prize in 1991.
His Legacy
Colleagues remember Lorenz as a quiet, humble person who loved nature. His close friend, Jule Charney, called him "a genius with a soul of an artist."
The Lorenz Center
In 2011, The Lorenz Center was created at MIT. It is a research center focused on climate science. It was named in honor of Lorenz and his important work on chaos theory and climate science.
Celebrating His 100th Birthday
In 2018, MIT held a special event called "MIT on Chaos and Climate." This event celebrated 100 years since Lorenz and Jule Charney were born. Experts from around the world gave talks. They discussed the many scientific contributions these two pioneers made. These contributions include numerical weather prediction and atmospheric dynamics.
Awards and Honors
- 1969 Carl-Gustaf Rossby Research Medal
- 1973 Symons Gold Medal
- 1975 Fellow, National Academy of Sciences (U.S.A.)
- 1983 Crafoord Prize
- 1991 Kyoto Prize for discovering "deterministic chaos"
- 1992 Roger Revelle Medal
- 2004 Buys Ballot Medal
- 2004 Lomonosov Gold Medal
See also
- Arctic oscillation
- Attractor
- Chaos theory
- Ensemble forecasting
- Extratropical cyclone
- Experimental mathematics
- Meteorology
- Numerical weather prediction
- Slow manifold
- Jule Gregory Charney
