At about $300,000 each, the international Kyoto Prizes are among the most lucrative cash awards given in science or the arts. These prizes, sponsored by the Inamori Foundation of Japan in three categories each year--advanced technology, basic sciences, and creative arts and moral sciences--were presented at a ceremony in Kyoto two weeks ago.
Edward N. Lorenz, professor emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, won the prize in basic sciences in part for his contributions to the theory of deterministic chaos, a principle that has profoundly influenced a wide range of sciences. Michael Szwarc, a senior fellow at the Loker Hydrocarbon Research Institute at the University of Southern California, won the advanced technology award for his pioneering work in polymer science.
Lorenz, a meteorologist, was cited for establishing "the theoretical basis of weather and climate predictability, as well as the basis for computer-aided atmospheric physics and meteorology." The citation goes ...
