Imagine standing on top of a mountain. From this vantage point, we can see picturesque valleys and majestic ridges below, and streams wind their way downhill. If a drop of rain falls somewhere on this ...

Many systems obey simple, linear rules: If you pull twice as hard on a spring, it stretches twice as far. However, when we introduce very large forces or complicated interactions, that linear rule ...

Frank Merle is used to confronting a messy world. He works on the mathematics of highly nonlinear systems—ones that respond in dramatic, unpredictable ways to even the smallest changes. It’s the same ...