Poincaré

Henri Poincaré was a renowned mathematician and physicist who made foundational contributions to chaos theory and topology. In essence, Poincaré's work showed that systems like the weather or planetary motions can behave unpredictably over time due to their sensitive dependence on initial conditions. His insights revealed that deterministic systems (those governed by fixed laws) can still produce seemingly random and complex behavior. This understanding helps us grasp the limits of predictability in natural phenomena, emphasizing that even precise understanding of initial data may not guarantee accurate long-term forecasts.