Complexity theory, along with fractal geometry and chaos theory, is one of the “new sciences” that came to prominence in the latter part of the twentieth century. These three fields contribute to a new awareness that nature in its organization is complex, fractaled, and turbulent. This is quite different from the past (modernist) view that nature is simple, linear, and stable in form and organization. The new theory and its application to education are described in this entry.

Order Out of Disorder

Isaac Newton, in the seventeenth century, believed nature to be “pleased with simplicity” and “conformable to herself.” Charles Darwin brought forward a different view, one wherein nature is capricious or random in its development. “Chance caught on a wing” is the way one scientist has ...

  • Loading...
locked icon

Sign in to access this content

Get a 30 day FREE TRIAL

  • Watch videos from a variety of sources bringing classroom topics to life
  • Read modern, diverse business cases
  • Explore hundreds of books and reference titles