Hooked

Chapter 17

Test, test, test

‘Life, uh, finds a way.’

So said Jeff Goldblum’s sexy mathematician (!) character Ian Malcolm in Jurassic Park. There is a fantastic scene where Goldblum’s character explains chaos theory to the trip’s paleobotanist using water from a plastic cup: every time a drop falls on her hand, it rolls down a different route due to tiny, unpredictable variations in the environment. A major theme in Jurassic Park is how life is chaotic, unpredictable and uncontrollable.

The next time Goldblum’s plastic cup of water is seen, it vibrates ominously to announce the arrival of a Tyrannosaurus Rex. Despite the best efforts of the park’s owner, the beast could not be contained, due to a confluence of unpredictable forces like the park’s ...