n
n(andnme!)
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
Havenyou ever wondered what “higher mathematics” is used for? n
Havenyou ever wondered what “higher mathematics” is used for? nn
n
n
n
n
nWell,nLewis Richardson (born on this day in 1881) used math to forecastnweather—and even to study the causes and prevention of war!nRichardson also did pioneering work on fractals as he studied thenmeasurement of coastlines and borders. In addition to being anmathematician, Richardson was a physicist, psychologist, andnpacifist.
n
n
n
n
n
nWhat,nwhat, and what?
n
n
n
n
n
- n
-
nPioneer:n One who settles land that is far from already established towns andn cities. OR one who works in a newly-established area of science,n technology, etc.
n
-
nPhysicist:n One who studies the matter, energy, and forces of the universe.
n
-
nPsychologist:n One who studies human behavior and mental processes.
n
-
nPacifist:n One who believes that disputes between nations and peoples can andn should be settled without war or violence.
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
nWhat’snup with the weather?
n
n
n
n
n
nWeathernis really hard to accurately predict because there are so manynfactors that affect it, because the atmosphere is chaotic, andnbecause it takes massive computing power to solve the equations thatndescribe the atmosphere. n
n
n
n
n
n
nRichardsonnsuggested using differential equations to forecast weather—and henwas right, that’s what we use today—but there were no computers ornelectronic calculators back then. An attempt he made to predict thenweather through equations was really off, because he didn’t use whatnwe now call smoothing techniques. However, when a modern analystnapplied these techniques to Richardson’s work, he found out thatnRichardson’s equations were essentially correct. This is considered anremarkable achievement, since he solved the equations by hand whilenworking for an ambulance service. n
n
n
n
n
n
nOfncourse, Richardson’s technique couldn’t work while “computers”nand “calculators” still mean a bunch of people sitting aroundnsolving equations. By the time human computers solved the equations,nthe forecast was already long out of date. Even the first computersnused in weather forecasting took 24 hours to produce a 24-hournforecast.
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
nNowadays,nwe have a lot more data to help make our weathernpredictions—including satellite data and worldwide instruments—andnof course we have huge computers to work on all that data. Still, wencan only forecast about 10 to 16 days in the future, and ournpredictions get less accurate near the end of those forecast periods.
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
nWarnand Borders and Fractals
n
n
n
n
n
nInnhis research about war between neighboring countries, Richardsonnlooked for data about length of borders and coastlines, in an effortnto find out if there was a correlation between length of borders andnfrequency of war. However, he found out that different sources gavenvery different figures for the length of any particular border. Henbegan to research how people made these measurements, and he foundnout that the smaller the ruler used to measure a coastline or border,nthe larger the resulting length. To see why, look at these pictures ofnmeasurements of the coastline of the British isle:
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
nThisnRichardson Effect is now considered one part of the birth of thenmathematics of fractals.
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
