[sdiy] slightly ot: Chua circuit and chaos

[Tim Stinchcombe]

> Still today the infinite properties of the non rational 
> numbers are a puzzle for mathematicians. Or as Konecker is 
> believed to say: "Integers were made by God, al else is devils work".
> 
> We simply use these numbers for every day engineering.
> Are we allowed to do so?
> Is the concept of real numbers a good model for what's
> really going on?

Since we managed to use calculus for about 175 years before someone came
along with a decent definition of what an 'infinite limit' actually was, and
so the real numbers were invented, maybe in a 100 years time someone will
come along and decide whether all this 'chaos' stuff is good/not good, and
will thus invalidate/validate what Wehr is saying. Sounds like a really
interesting book: pity there's unlikely to be an english translation of it!

Tim