 |
|
Chaotic Family Dynamics-Reply
Blake W. H. Smith, PhD
Michigan State University East Lansing
Arch Fam Med. 1994;3(8):656.
|
|
| Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings. |
|
|
|
In reply
Mathematics is important in family medicine. Calculus and differential equations are especially important because they allow us to conceptualize how systems evolve. Those who look at medical problems from a primary care perspective may be in the best position to apply mathematical concepts because our natural preoccupation is with the macroscopic behavior of organs and people, rather than with microscopic details.
Romanic's struggle to reconcile the implications of chaos theory is typical of the mental journey that we all have to take to comprehend strange attractors. I recall spending several months testing refinements of the double-scroll computer program, hoping to plot the ultimately correct trajectory that the system traced in its strange attractor. With every increase in the precision of the calculations, the trajectory would shift, sometimes a little and sometimes a lot. Where was the truth? What was the answer? At last, I accepted the proposition that the general
. . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]
|
