Weather and Chaos: The Work of Edward N. Lorenz

Why is it that we can predict a solar eclipse centuries in advance, but we can only predict the weather about a week or two in advance? Can a small-scale movement, like the flap of a butterfly’s wing, influence large-scale systems like hurricanes? In the 1960s, an MIT meteorologist exploring these questions with the help of early digital computers made a discovery that would change the way we understand not only weather but nearly everything in our universe. His work suggested there are certain systems we may never be able to predict, not because they are too complex, but because “chaos” is built into their underlying math. Years later, this idea would enter popular culture as “the butterfly effect.”

This is the first film about Edward N. Lorenz and his role in Chaos Theory produced with the participation of scientists who worked alongside him. With their help we take a closer look at what the “butterfly effect” actually meant in the context of Lorenz’s work, and why it should make all of us rethink our understanding of our universe.

Official Selection: American Documentary Film Festival, Philip K. Dick Film Festival, Academia Film Oulomouc, Raw Science Film Festival, Lift-Off Global Network Online Documentary Film Festival, Sci-On! Film Festival, LabMeCrazy Film Festival, China International Conference of Science and Education Producers.

Written, Produced, and Edited by
Josh Kastorf

Narrated by
William Marshall Cline

Music by
Rob Jaret

Interview Videography by
Josh Kastorf & Neale Brown

Audio Effects and Mix by
Ben Templeton

Interviewees:

Prof. Kerrry Emanuel
Cecil & Ida Green Professor of Atmospheric Science
MIT Dept. of Earth, Atmospheric & Planetary Sciences

Prof. Daniel Rothman
Professor of Geophysics
MIT Dept. of Earth, Atmospheric & Planetary Sciences

Special Footage:

Handmade Orrery
Courtesy Ken Condal (zeamon.com)

Butterfly Flow
Courtesy Prof. Haibo Dong (U. Virginia)
and Dr. Chengyu Li (Villanova U.)

Restored Royal McBee LGP-30
Courtesy Cory Heisterkamp (radar58.com/LGP30)

LGP-30 Teletype Lorenz Data Set
Courtesy William McKenna (MIT)

Atmospheric Model with Balloon Trajectories
Courtesy Dr. Lodovica Illari and Dr. Glenn Flierl (MIT)

Lorenz Attractors
Made with Processing (processing.org)

Double Pendulum
Courtesy of Prof. Jack Wisdom (MIT)

Solar System Model
Made with Universe Sandbox (universesandbox.com)

Ed Lorenz at MIT 2004
Courtesy Merry Caston

Additional Footage and Images Courtesy of:
The Library of Congress
NASA
NOAA
The Lorenz Family
MIT Museum
Inamori Foundation
Prof. Howard Bluestein
Hal Bergstrand
J. Oishi, B. Brown, K. Burns, S. Clark, G Vasil, D. Lecoanet
via APS Gallery of Fluid Motion
Rubens Machado, Smootheye,
GreenShortz DIY, helmut satzger, Scott R, footageonline
via Youtube

Special Thanks:
Angela Ellis
Lauren Hinkel
Faith Zhang
Christine Maglio
Darius Colazzo
Prof. Brian Evans
Dr. Amanda Bosch
Dr. Meg Rosenburg
Dr. Elizabeth Cavicchi
Ariel Weinberg
Ellen Gille
Niraja Lorenz
Cheryl Lorenz
Dr. Richard D. Rosen
Prof. Paola Malanotte-Rizzoli
Prof. Alan Robock (Rutgers U.)
Dr. Rebecca E. Morss (NCAR)
Prof. Dale R. Durran (U. Washington)
Prof. Tim Palmer (U. Oxford)
Prof. Jagadish Shukla (George Mason U.)

Made possible in part by:

Prof. John Marshall
Cecil and Ida Green Professor of Oceanography
MIT Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences

Prof. Daniel Rothman and Prof. Kerry Emanuel
Co-Directors, The Lorenz Center
MIT Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences

©2018 Josh Kastorf
All Rights Reserved