FROM ZEBRA STRIPES TO FROG EGGS, UH TALK
TEACHES PATTERNS WITH PICTURES
Tenneco Distinguished Lecture Series Presents Renowned Physicist
Harry L. Swinney
What do spiral patterns in a frog’s egg, a fibrillating
heart, ocean eddies and a zebra’s stripes have in common?
In a heavily illustrated presentation at the University of Houston,
physics professor and chaos theory pioneer Harry L. Swinney will
show what can be learned from seemingly incongruent patterns.
As part of the UH Tenneco Distinguished Lecture Series, Swinney,
the Sid Richardson Foundation Regents Chair at the University of
Texas at Austin, will be speaking 5:30 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 20 in
room 130 of the Science and Research 2 building on the UH campus.
The hour-long lecture is free and open to the public.
In his talk, “Emergence of Order in Physical, Chemical and
Biological Systems,” Swinney will address how patterns spontaneously
form in nature, the general underlying principles that are shared
across varying situations and what can be learned from these different
systems that have similar patterns.
“Patterns with vastly dissimilar sizes and differing widely
in complexity, scale and underlying molecular mechanisms can often
be understood from a common approach,” Swinney said. “I
will present simple patterns, such as those found in liquids and
solids, flowers and leaves, zebra stripes and frog eggs, to show
what we can learn from one to another.”
Swinney received his Ph.D. in physics from Johns Hopkins University
and was a professor at the City College of New York before joining
UT-Austin in 1978. Having made several seminal discoveries in chaotic
dynamics, pattern formation and turbulence, Swinney is one of the
most highly cited authors in physics and his research program is
considered one of the best in nonlinear dynamics. He is a member
of the National Academy of Sciences and a fellow of the American
Association for Advancement of Science and the American Physical
Inaugurated in 1986 and administered by the UH Center for Public
History, the Tenneco Distinguished Lecture Series is made possible
by grants from Tenneco Inc. and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
The UH College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics and physics department
are co-sponsoring Swinney’s appearance. Persons with disabilities
who require special accommodations in attending this lecture should
||Harry L. Swinney, physics
professor and chaos theory pioneer
||Tenneco Distinguished Lecture
||5:30 to 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, Feb.
||University of Houston
Science and Research 2 Building
Off Cullen Boulevard
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