Foundational Papers in Complexity Science pp. 1481–1510
DOI: 10.37911/9781947864542.51
Brownian Motion as Mathematical Superstructure to Organize the Science of Climate and Weather
Author: Nicholas W. Watkins, University of Warwick; London School of Economics and Political Science
Excerpt
In 2021 the Nobel Prize in Physics was given, for the first time, to complexity science. Klaus Hasselmann, Syukuro Manabe, and Giorgio Parisi were cited “for groundbreaking contributions to our understanding of complex physical systems.” Nobel’s will stipulated that the physics prize should be given to a recipient “who shall have made the most important discovery or invention within the field,” and the Nobel Committee further requires that the discovery or invention should either have had an impact on the evolution of physics as a science, or shown the usefulness of physics for society and thus have “conferred the greatest benefit to humankind.” The awardees in 2021 fulfilled these requirements, with their diverse achievements being linked through the mathematics and physics of disorder, fluctuations, and variability. These have also been perennial themes at SFI, as the Foundational Papers volumes show.
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