Edward Norton Lorenz belongs to the mathematical record as a figure whose results outlasted the problems that prompted them.
The record lists Edward Norton Lorenz as American mathematician and meteorologist (1917–2008).
Edward Norton Lorenz was born at West Hartford in 1917. His recorded nationality is United States. He studied at Dartmouth College and Harvard University.
Twentieth-century mathematics became abstract and highly specialised, and its methods reached into physics, economics and computing.
His academic posts were held at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and United States Air Force.
The recorded fields of work are study of complex systems and chaos theory.
Among his principal contributions are butterfly effect, Lorenz system and The nature and theory of the general circulation of the atmosphere / Edward N. Lorenz. - 1967. Mathematics is the one discipline whose results, once proved, are never overturned.
Recognition followed: Elliott Cresson Medal (1989), Buys Ballot Medal (2004), Carl-Gustaf Rossby Research Medal (1969) and Lomonosov Gold Medal (2004).
That the work was done from United States matters: mathematical training, institutions and the language of publication have never been evenly distributed.
Edward Norton Lorenz died in 2008, aged 91. The proofs remain, and a proof does not decay - which is the particular permanence mathematics offers.
Achievements
- Elliott Cresson Medal — 1989
- Buys Ballot Medal — 2004
- Carl-Gustaf Rossby Research Medal — 1969
- Lomonosov Gold Medal — 2004
- International Meteorological Organization Prize — 2000
- Notable work: butterfly effect
- Notable work: Lorenz system
- Notable work: The nature and theory of the general circulation of the atmosphere / Edward N. Lorenz. - 1967
- Notable work: fontaine chaotique
- Held posts at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and United States Air Force
