not always so; it may happen that small differences in the initial conditions produce very great ones in the final phenomena. A small error in the former will produce an enormous error in the latter. Prediction becomes impossible..." (Poincare, 1973) The Complexity theory has developed from mathematics, biology, and chemistry, but mostly from physics and particularly thermodynamics, the study of turbulence leading to the understanding of self-organizing systems and system states (equilibrium, near equilibrium, the edge of chaos, and chaos). "The concept of entropy is actually the physicists application of the concept of evolution to physical systems. The greater the entropy of a system, the more highly evolved is the system."( Prigogine, 1974) The Complexity theory is also having a major impact on quantum physics and attempts to reconcile the chaos of quantum physics with the predictability of Newton's universe. With complexity theory, the distinctions between the different disciplines of sciences are disappearing. For example, fractal research is now used for biological studies. But there is a question as to whether the current research and academic funding will support this move to interdisciplinary research. Complexity is already affecting many aspects of our lives and has a great impacts on all sciences. It is answering previously unsolvable problems in cosmology and quantum mechanics. The understanding of heart arrhythmias and brain functioning has been revolutionized by complexity research. There have been a number of other things developed from complexity research, such a the SimLife, SimAnt, etc. which are a series of computer programs. Fractal mathematics are critical to improved information compression and encryption schemes needed for computer networking and telecommunications. Genetic algorithms are being applied to economic research and stock predictions. Engineering applications range from factory scheduling to product de...
