Finally someone asked me what my signature block quote means. You know, the one I sign all my emails with; "Quantum Mechanics describes the butterflies that cause the storms we call reality." When I composed that quote several years ago, I was rather proud of it and thought it would cause some comment. Not until yesterday when my daughter asked me what it meant. My answer to her follows;
“The butterfly theory is a famous theory that talks about how chaotic events like
storms can be caused by very insignificant events like the breeze from a
butterfly’s wings. Example: A butterfly flaps her wings and makes a small
air current that shifts a larger air current slightly which shifts another even
larger air current even more and eventually a storm happens that wouldn’t have
happened if the butterfly hadn’t flapped its wings. Quantum mechanics
studies the smallest things in the universe which are the particles which make
up everything (our reality). These particles are always in motion like a
continuous storm. If only one atom decays and emits several neutrons,
these neutrons can cause other atoms to decay and emit neutrons and under the
right conditions a chain reaction happens and much energy is released (atomic
bomb).
I think my saying has a very limited audience. It would be appreciated by a
physicist that liked poetry or a poet that was interested in physics. So
I will probably never become famous for my saying. You’re the first person that ever
asked me what it means!”
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