What is Edward N. Lorenz?
{{Infobox scientist | name = Edward Norton Lorenz | academic_advisor = | signature = <!-- (filename only) --> | awards = [[Symons Gold Medal]] {{small|(1973)}}<br>[[Crafoord Prize]] {{small|(1983)}}<br>[[Kyoto Prize]] {{small|(1991)}}<br>[[Lomonosov Gold Medal]] {{small|(2004)}} | influenced = | influences = | known_for = [[Chaos theory]]<br>[[Lorenz attractor]]<br>[[Butterfly effect]] | notable_students = | doctoral_students = [[Kevin E. Trenberth]]<br>[[William D. Sellers]] | thesis_year = 1948 | thesis_url = http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/44688 | thesis_title = A Method of Applying the Hydrodynamic and Thermodynamic Equations to Atmospheric Models | doctoral_advisor = [[James Murdoch Austin]] | alma_mater = [[Dartmouth College]] {{small|(BA, 1938)}}<br />[[Harvard University]] {{small|(MA, 1940)}}<br />[[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] {{small|(SM, 1943; ScD, 1948)}} | workplaces = [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] | fields = Mathematics and [[Meteorology]] | death_place = [[Cambridge, Massachusetts]], United States | death_date = {{death date and age|2008|4|16|1917|5|23}} | birth_place = [[West Hartford, Connecticut]], United States | birth_date = {{birth date|1917|5|23}} | caption = Edward Norton Lorenz | footnotes = }} '''Edward Norton Lorenz''' (May 23, 1917 – April 16, 2008) was an [[United States|American]] [[mathematician]] and [[Meteorology|meteorologist]]. He was one of the first to work in the field of [[Chaos theory]]. He was the first to use the term [[Butterfly effect]] for [[Dynamic system|dynamic systems]] that are very sensitive to starting conditions. In the 1960s, he used a simple model for [[Numerical weather prediction|weather prediction]], which he simialated on a [[computer]]. With this setup, he discovered that only a slight change of the values he used for the model could lead to totally different results. This is known as Butterfly effect. In numerical weather predicion, values are often [[Rounding|rounded]], so that in each step, a small [[error]] is added.