What is Chaos theory ?

     Chaos theory emerged in the 1970s as a branch of mathematics that sought an alternative to linear differential equations. Linearity implies a strong element of predictability (for example, how a billiard ball will respond to being hit by another billiard ball). In contrast, chaos theory examines the behaviour of nonlinear systems (such as weather systems), in which there are such a wide range of variable factors that the effect of a change in any of them may have a disproportionate, and seemingly  random, effect on others.The classic example of this is the so-called ‘butterfly effect’: the idea that the mere flap of a butterfly’s wing could cause a hurricane to occur on the other side of the globe.