Chaos Theory
The mathematics of unpredictable systems, and Ian Malcolm's warning about the park.
Chaos theory is the mathematical idea that Michael Crichton's 1990 novel Jurassic Park sets out to illustrate: the collapse of a park of genetically recreated dinosaurs shows the concept and what it means in the real world. Its voice in the story is Ian Malcolm, a mathematician who specialises in chaos theory and is the most pessimistic of the experts brought in to judge the park.
Quick Facts
- Explained by
- Ian Malcolm
- Appears in
- Jurassic Park (1990 novel, 1993 film)
Facts from the source article.
Background
Malcolm argues that John Hammond's team does not understand what it has created, and that controlling the dinosaurs through sterilization and managed breeding is foolish because biology has far too many unpredictable variables. Crichton added a great deal of chaos theory material through Malcolm, who until then had been a minor character. In the 1993 film Jeff Goldblum's Malcolm explains chaos theory while flirting with Ellie Sattler, a scene credited with reviving interest in the subject, and the sequel The Lost World opens with him lecturing on extinction and chaos theory.
More in Science & Genetics
Elsewhere in Jurassic Park
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