자연과학과 혼돈이론

The Natural Science and Chaos Theory

결정론적 우주관은 뉴턴이 만유인력의 법칙을 완성한 후 자연과학계를 지배해 왔다. 1920년 대 확률론을 기반으로 하는 양자역학의 출현에도 불구하고 결정론적 사고방식은 별로 변화하지 않았다. 그러나 최근 혼돈이론에 의하면 뉴턴의 체계에 정확히 따르는 계에서도 장기예측이 불가능하다는 것이 밝혀졌다. 이러한 혼돈이론은 간단한 예로서 쉽게 이해될 수 있으며 여러 가지 흥미있는 특성을 지니고있다. 또한 혼돈이론은 생명까지 포함하는 전반적인 자연현상을 설명하는 데 널리 쓰이고 있다.

Ever since Newton completed the theory of the gravity, the deterministic view has been dominating; the science world. The deterministic view was changed in the 1920s, during quantum mechanics was developed to explain the behavior of electrons. The quantum mechanics is a statistical theory. According to the uncertainty principle, one cannot measure the position and momentum of a particle at the same time. The quantum mechanics, however, did not change the scientist’s attitude toward the nature completely. Recently, the new challenge came from the chaos theory. Even with the theory following the Newtonian mechanics strictly, one can not make long tern predictions. The chaos has many interesting characteristics. One of them is the fractal geometry, which is graphical expression of the chaos. One can easily understand the theory by analyzing simple examples such as, a pinball machine and complicated pendulum. Now the chaos theory prevails every scientific discipline. The chaos is indispensable especially to explain the structure of a living body as well as the life itself.