Robert Shaw

Robert Stetson Shaw (b. 1946)^[1] is an American physicist who was part of Eudaemonic Enterprises in Santa Cruz in the late 1970s and early 1980s. In 1988 he was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship for his work in Chaos theory.^[2]

Chaos theory

He was one of the pioneers of chaos theory and his work at University of California, Santa Cruz on the subject was among the first research into the relationship between predictable motion and chaos in a landmark PhD thesis.^[3]

As Part of the Dynamical Systems Collective with J. Doyne Farmer, Norman Packard, and James Crutchfield. The Collective, a.k.a. the Santa Cruz Chaos Cabal, was best known for its work in probing chaotic systems for signs of order.^[4]

Roulette

Rob Shaw, while studying at University of California, Santa Cruz worked briefly with the Eudaemons, a group of maverick physicists who were attempting to create a computer capable of predicting the outcome of a game of roulette.^[5]

Illustrations

Rob's younger brother Chris, an artist and film maker, is also responsible for illustrations in his brother Rob's papers and thesis and also Rob's PhD adviser William Burke. One cosmological painting of parallel universes exploding and imploding in alternating Big Bangs and Big Crunches in Burke's cosmology textbook hangs on a wall at the American Center for Physics.

References

1. ^ LCCN
2. ^ The John D. And Catherine T. MacArthur Fellowship, List of 1988 MacArthur Fellows [1]
3. ^ Robert Shaw, The Dripping Faucet As a Model Chaotic System, Science Frontier Express Series, Aerial Press, December 1984, December 1984 ISBN 0-942344-05-7
4. ^ James Gleick, Chaos: Making a New Science
5. ^ The Eudaemonic Pie by Thomas A. Bass ISBN 0-595-14236-2

See also

• Strange attractor